Why Aston Villa should quickly snap up free agent Romain Alessandrini
According to the Sunday Express (h/t The Daily Star), Aston Villa are one of the Premier League clubs interested in signing LA Galaxy’s Romain Alessandrini.
Romain Alessandrini, 30, was most recently of LA Galaxy in the Major League Soccer, but he is now out of contract and is a free agent, meaning he can move to a new club before the January transfer window opens. The 30-year-old spent two-and-a-half years in the United States, joining from French top-tier side Marseille in January 2017.
The French winger, who has been one of the standout performers in the MLS since joining LA Galaxy in 2017, failed to make the same impact last season though, missing five months after a knee operation. And Alessandrini’s availability on a free transfer has alerted the likes of Brighton, Watford and West Ham, adds the report (h/t The Daily Star).
Aston Villa, meanwhile, have struggled in the Premier League after achieving promotion in the summer. Despite making a heavy investment to strengthen the squad, Dean Smith is yet to see the best of some of his summer signings.
The Villans did pinch a good point against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday with Jack Grealish scoring a beauty, but the matter of fact is that they need more quality in the forward department if they are to avoid the drop at the first time of asking.
Smith must make it a priority to address the wide department, with Mahmoud Trezeguet and Anwar El Ghazi proving too inconsistent. In that case, Aston Villa should quickly snap up Romain Alessandrini.
The 30-year-old is an experienced player, having represented Ligue 1 giants Marseille and Rennes, as well as a handful of lower league French clubs. At Villa, he could be an influential figure alongside Wesley Moraes, who is currently the club’s top scorer with 4 goals.
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As per WhoScored.com, Alessandrini registered an average of 1.7 shots, 1.1 key passes and 0.7 dribbles per game in the MLS last season. He has also enjoyed a passing accuracy of 80.4%. To put things into perspective, the Frenchman will be new to English football but those numbers do suggest he can make an impact at Villa Park.
Verdict
Skipper Grealish has been forced to shoulder the bulk of the team’s creative workload. Villa need someone to ease the burden off Grealish’ shoulders and Alessandrini could be that player. And on a free transfer, the French winger would be a coup for Smith’s side.
