Aston Villa are reportedly keeping tabs on Sheffield Utd youngster Oliver Arblaster, but face competition from other Premier League clubs.
The 20-year-old midfielder spent the first half of this season on loan at Port Vale where he made 20 League One appearances, contributing two goals and providing an assist.
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Having returned to the Blades in January, he has gone on to feature nine times in the Premier League since, establishing himself as a fixture in their starting line-up in recent weeks.
That in turn has seemingly led to interest in him building from elsewhere, with The Telegraph reporting that Villa are among the clubs monitoring his progress, with an eye on a potential swoop in the future.
As this season has shown us, Villa are light in the midfield department. Particularly after the injury that Boubacar Kamara suffered in February coupled with the recent absence of Douglas Luiz due to suspension and now the injury sustained by Youri Tielemans, it has emphasised our need to add competition and depth in that area of the squad this summer.
Firstly, time will tell if Villa are genuinely keen on Arblaster and submit an official offer, but it will be interesting to see if Unai Emery feels as though that’s the signing he needs to address the issue, or if there will be a further reinforcement to arrive with the talented youngster drafted in as depth.
With Luiz, Kamara, John McGinn, Tielemans and Tim Iroegbunam vying for places, it could be a move to complement what we already have and to add a long-term solution.
Sheffield Utd are set to return to the Championship next season, and so it remains to be seen if they’re capable of fending off interest in their top talents. Arblaster’s current contract runs until June 2028, and so he would likely command a decent fee.
As we saw with the acquisition of Morgan Rogers from Middlesbrough in January, if our scouting team identify a player that can fit into the structure and style of Emery’s side and be an effective contributor with a big future ahead of them, we’ll make our intent known and secure their signature.
While we have guaranteed ourselves a spot in the Europa League for next season at least already, we’ll need depth to compete across multiple fronts again, but particularly if we qualify for the Champions League, Arblaster could be seen as a solid addition to provide cover, with a top-level signing potentially earmarked as well to help us be as competitive as possible.