Aston Villa have confirmed the exit of Viljami Sinisalo, with the talented young goalkeeper joining Celtic in a deal said to be worth around £1m.
The 22-year-old joined us in 2018 and after impressing at youth level, he enjoyed productive loan spells at Ayr Utd, Burton Albion and Exeter City.
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It appears as though his form in that most recent loan stint caught the eye of Celtic, as Villa have confirmed in an official statement that the Scottish giants have signed Sinisalo in a permanent deal.
Further, Sky Sports have since reported that Celtic have paid around £1m to sign the Finnish shot-stopper, and so Villa will be relatively pleased to get a fee for him as we look to trim down the squad in certain areas.
With Emiliano Martinez cemented in his place as our first choice between the posts, Robin Olsen will remain at the club it seems to provide back-up. Villa signed Joe Gauci in January, and the Australian international will be looking to climb the pecking order over pre-season, while Filip Marschall is currently fourth in line.
In turn, the expectation was always that we’d move someone on, and despite impressing last season at Exeter, it’s Sinisalo who departs to begin a new challenge elsewhere.
As we’ve seen over the past year or so, Villa have a clear strategy to develop young talent and sell on for a profit in order to help balance our books for PSR.
While we hope that the picks of the bunch are able to kick on and make a breakthrough at senior level, the likelihood is that many will find it difficult to emerge from the competition for places and establish themselves in the first-team squad.
Therefore, sales like this are increasing in numbers, and while we wish Sinisalo all the best in the future, it’s important that Emery gets the balance right across his squad in terms of having quality competition in every position, but not having too many options which will be unnecessary regardless of our desire to compete across multiple fronts for major honours.
