According to reports, Aston Villa are willing to sell Wesley in this summer’s transfer window.
What’s the story?
The Brazilian has been out injured for more than a year due to an ACL injury that he picked up in early 2020, and though there have been promising signs of him back out training on the grass, it appears that the writing may already be on the wall for him.
Football Insider have claimed that Wesley faces an uncertain future at Villa Park even if he makes a comeback to first-team action before the end of the season.
Should Villa sell Wesley this summer?
Yes!
No!
The report revealed that the club are willing to listen to offers for the £13.5m-rated striker, with Smith said to be “not convinced” by his player even before he went down with injury.
It’s added that the Villa boss even saw him as “below the standard needed for a spearhead at a leading Premier League club”.
Dean Smith must make ruthless call
While it would certainly be a ruthless call to get rid of someone only just making their way back from a major knee injury, it’s perhaps the perfect time for all sides to move on.
Even when he was fully fit, his displays just weren’t up to scratch, with just six goals to his name for the club – his performances even saw some Villa fans voice their frustrations with the centre-forward.
Speaking back at the end of 2019, former Villa man Stan Collymore said: “If they are going to stay up, Smith and John Terry must pull Wesley to one side and say, ‘If we are going to believe in you to play in the first team then you need to do the basics well, which is playing with your back to goal. I don’t see any evidence of coaching in terms of that.
“I’ve said from day one this season that I’d go in for free, I’m sure Emile Heskey or John Carew would as well, and show Wesley how to play that way because at the minute he’s a liability. If they’re not going to do that then they need to take him out of the team and buy a striker in January.”
The fact is, Wesley just wasn’t good enough in his early days at Villa, and now, with the prospect of having to battle back from a knee injury, makes his job of reaching his peak that much more difficult.
It’s exactly why Smith should be looking to sell him this summer.
Meanwhile, this Villa man was shocking vs Spurs at the weekend…