Why Aston Villa have missed a trick by not signing Martin Dubravka
Aston Villa, after having made an underwhelming start to the season, are slowly getting back on track after the new manager’s arrival. Ex-Brentford boss Dean Smith has taken over at Villa Park and is certainly doing a fine job in Birmingham.
They won their previous two games against Bolton Wanderers and Derby County to lift themselves up to 11th in the table with 24 points, just four behind the playoff spots for Premier League promotion. With 29 games left to play in the league campaign, one can imagine the turnaround Villa can complete if they continue to grow under the new manager.
Out of the few areas of concern, the goalkeeping department still remains to be the one of most perturb. Orjan Nyland arrived from Ingolstadt in the summer and has taken over the first-choice spot in goal. Sam Johnstone was the goalkeeper last season but now he is at West Brom, leaving Villa with no choice but to look for a goalkeeper last summer.
However, Nyland hasn’t filled us with grave confidence with how he has performed thus far. The Norwegian looks a bit short on confidence, seems shaky with the ball at this feet and is making goalkeeping errors which are unpardonable, to say the least.
Despite the 28-year-old producing one of his best performances of the season against Derby County, the cause for concern would stay because he hasn’t been consistent enough.
According to Daily Mail, Aston Villa and Sheffield United previously submitted offers for keeper Martin Dubravka, but the Czech is now playing for Newcastle United in the Premier League. Moreover, he has taken over that role and has really stamped his authority with solid performances on a consistent basis.
The 29-year-old has been the Magpies’ best player of the season so far, making key saves in almost every game to bail his team out. Hence, it is not tough to say that Villa should have made more of an effort to buy the former Sparta Prague shot-stopper.
Read More: Aston Villa should plot a January move for this out-of-favour Tottenham winger
This fact gets highlighted if we witness the inconsistent performances from Nyland. If the Birmingham-based club were in the market for a new goalkeeper, and they must have looked at Dubravka especially after seeing him perform fantastically in a loan spell at St.James’ Park last season. Surely, Aston Villa have missed a trick by not signing Martin Dubravka in the summer