THE GENIUS FREE TRANSFER THAT COULD KEEP ASTON VILLA MOVING FORWARD NEXT SEASON

Spanish media are reporting that Aston Villa are close to signing an international centre-half for free - but how much difference can he make?

Aston Villa have had a superb season and seem all but certain to qualify for the Champions League, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be plenty of work for Unai Emery to do this summer – and according to the Spanish media, he may have already found his first signing ahead of next season.

Madrid newspaper AS reported this weekend that Villa are close to signing Atlético Madrid defender Mario Hermoso on a free transfer. The 28-year-old has been a regular presence under Diego Simeone since signing for a deal worth up to €29m (£24.9m) in 2019, but with his contract running down he seems set to leave the Spanish capital, and Villa are apparently his most likely destination. But what would Hermoso bring to Villa, and can he help to improve on the current squad?

Hermoso, who has five caps for Spain, is an interesting player. Typically, he plays on the left of a back three, either as a wide centre-half who gets close to the touchline in possession, or as a defender who gets up into midfield inside the wing-back. He hasn’t played very much in a back four, but could operate either as a very aggressive centre-back or as a left-back.

He certainly isn’t someone who stays back as the last man much. He’s at his best getting forward into midfield and that explains his stat line – despite having a reputation as an excellent tackler, he doesn’t make a huge number of defensive interventions but does generate a lot of good vertical passes. He’s responsible for creating around 1.5 shooting opportunities per game and makes nearly six accurate forward passes every game, which is a very high level of creativity for a centre-half.

Which isn’t to say that he can’t do the traditional defensive work (he’s a Simeone player, after all) but simply that it isn’t usually his job. But then, Villa have played with their centre-halves high and aggressive under Emery this season too – so while he may not be used to playing in a back four, he could still fit right in. When you compare his numbers and production to that of Pau Torres, for instance, they’re very similar – and indeed, Hermoso actually creates a little more, makes slightly more successful passes, and puts in more tackles and interceptions.

So in many ways, signing Hermoso would represent more of the same. He can cover left-back if needed, which could be important, and there could be some work needed to help him adapt from a back three to a back four, but fundamentally, he plays in a pretty similar way (and with similar effectiveness) to the players Villa already have.

That’s both good news and bad. With Clément Lenglet set to return to Barcelona on loan, Tyrone Mings still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury and Kourtney Hause essentially exiled, Villa will need an extra body in defence, and he fits the current plan quite nicely. But he’s also unlikely to help them to improve in areas of weakness.

Specifically, Villa have one of the worst records in the league when it comes to dealing with crosses and high balls. Only three teams have less success in aerial duels and the 15 goals they’ve conceded from set pieces is the fifth-worst number in the league. They have a similar issue to that endured by Tottenham Hotspur – they’re vulnerable in the air and can be attacked too easily out wide.

Hermoso is a little over six feet tall and only wins around 1.5 aerial duels per game, which is a pretty low mark for a centre-half. His success rate, at least, tends to be over 60%, which is very healthy, so he should improve Villa somewhat in that regard, but he isn’t the kind of towering presence who can help to plaster over that particular crack.

So he’s a good defender with plenty of experience who can supplement the attack impressively and has the qualities required to be at least as good as the centre-halves Villa have now – and while he isn’t the ideal all-rounder, he wouldn’t cost a transfer fee, so it’s hard to find too many downsides to the deal. AS do mention that there is interest from Italy as well (although they don’t say which clubs are involved), so this isn’t a done deal, but they seem fairly confident that an agreement is close.

This won’t be a transformational transfer for Villa, but it looks like a very sound one on paper and there the potential downside is pretty low given the economics of it all. And it also signals that Emery isn’t too worried about Villa’s frailties – and intends to continue to plough the furrow that’s been so staggeringly successful since he took over.

2024-05-06T18:13:49Z dg43tfdfdgfd