Villa youngsters tipped to move on with loan switch touted

Aston Villa goalkeepers Filip Marschall and Viljami Sinisalo could both reportedly move on this summer, with the former close to a loan exit.

Emiliano Martinez will no doubt continue as our first-choice shot-stopper this season, and so the challenge for Unai Emery and Villa has been to ensure we’ve got suitable back-up and depth behind him.

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Villa signed Joe Gauci in January, and it would seem as though the 24-year-old Australian international is considered Emery’s preferred long-term option having added him to his squad, albeit Robin Olsen was still second choice last season.

Add both Marschall and Sinisalo to the mix, and that’s perhaps two goalkeepers too many regardless of whether or not we’ll be competing across multiple fronts next season, and it has been reported that it could be the two youngsters who depart.

According to The Athletic, Marschall is currently training at Crewe Alexandra with a potential loan move on the cards, while Sinisalo is said to be attracting interest from a number of clubs both in England and abroad, and so with the possibility of offloading them available to Villa, it might make sense to approve the moves.

That said, question marks remain over Olsen given he has struggled to entirely convince since he arrived at the club, and so although the expectation is that the Swedish stalwart will remain with us this year, it’s hoped that eventually Gauci and one of Marschall and Sinisalo can provide long-term competition and depth.

Villa have adopted a clear transfer strategy over the past 12 months in terms of balancing our books by selling Academy players, and so although loan moves appear to be the more likely solution again at this stage, it remains to be seen if either Marschall or Sinisalo can ultimately make a breakthrough at senior level for Villa in the long run, or if they’ll have to move on permanently to find opportunities.