Aston Villa goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo is reportedly set to join Exeter City on a season-long loan deal next week.
The 21-year-old spent time on loan at Burton Albion last season, but having returned from that stint early, he was regularly named on the bench by Unai Emery with the Villa boss preferring to include two goalkeepers in reserve.
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While Emiliano Martinez will undoubtedly continue as our first-choice shot-stopper this season, Robin Olsen is currently set to remain as cover for him, but Villa could be in the market this summer to bring in a third-choice as Sinisalo is set for another departure on loan.
According to MTV Urheilu, the Finnish goalkeeper has already signed a one-year loan agreement to join Exeter, but the move won’t be made official until after our pre-season encounter with Walsall on Saturday, as he is expected to feature with our senior players not yet back after being given an extended break.
While Sinisalo was included on the Villa bench 15 times in the Premier League last season, the expectation – and hope – is that Emery will fill out his squad this summer so that we’ll only require one goalkeeper on the sidelines in the upcoming campaign.
From the youngster’s perspective, it will hopefully prove to be a productive spell where he gains regular playing time to allow him to continue to improve and develop and eventually provide reliable and proven cover for Martinez.
For Villa though, that could now spark us into action on the transfer market to bring in another back-up option, as beyond Martinez and Olsen, we would have to promote one of Oliwier Zych or Filip Marschall from the U21s, and that could be a possibility if Emery feels that they are ready for that role.
Time will tell if that’s indeed the case or if we’ll look to bring in a new face to fill that void with question marks still hanging over Olsen’s reliability and fit for the Villa boss, but it’s another area of the Villa squad that could be addressed in the coming weeks.