Aston Villa's Kalinic swoop shows they are ready to gamble big on promotion again

By Sam Preston

Aston Villa are closing in on a deal for Croatian international goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic, according to the Telegraph.

They report that Kalinic is expected to have a medical at Bodymoor Heath today, as he moves ever closer to a deal worth around £7m to his current club Ghent.

Villa have apparently been in for the goalkeeper before, back during Remi Garde’s ill-fated reign, and they are back in the hunt once more as Dean Smith seeks an upgrade on Ørjan Nyland between the sticks.

Signing Kalinic would be a real show of ambition from Smith; his quality is underlined by the fact that World Cup finalists Croatia see him as the man to replace Daniel Subasic long-term.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

But that £7m fee – and the report claims that Ghent could demand up to £10m – shows that Villa are prepared to gamble again with their financial situation an attempt to get back into the top flight.

They have done that during the past two seasons, and failure to gain promotion left them in a sticky financial situation during the summer, where the future of key players such as Jack Grealish was up in their air constantly.

Going big again could get the fans excited, but there should also be an air of trepidation about what will happen if it turns out not to be third time lucky at Villa Park.