Football Season Guide

Premier League

England

Premier League

2015/2016

Aston Villa

In

Richards (def)(Man City), Bunn (gk)(Norwich), Gueye (mid)(Lille), Amavi(def)(Nice), Crespo (def)(Cordoba), Veretout (mid)(Nantes), Gestede (att)(Blackburn), Ayew (att)(Lorient)

Out

Weimann (att)(Derby), Lowton (def)(Burnley), Given(gk)(Stoke), Delph(mid)(Man City), Cleverley (mid)(Everton), Benteke (att)(Liverpool), Vlaar (def)(released)

Aston Villa have been a team going nowhere for the last couple of seasons. They finally parted ways with Paul Lambert during last season and replaced him with Tim Sherwood. Sherwood steered the team away from the relegation zone and also took them to an FA Cup Final. The former Tottenham Hotspur manager now has the chance to build a team capable of not just surviving in the Premier League, but of also being competitive. Straight away he has something of a rebuilding job to do following the departures of key players Fabian Delph, Ron Vlaar, Tom Cleverley and Christian Benteke. They will need to be replaced but it remains to be seen just how much money Sherwood will have at his disposal. Scoring goals was a major problem last season and one would imagine Villa need at least two strikers added to the squad before the start of the season. On top of that the Lions need further options at centre back.

Target

Premier League survival remains the name of the game for Villa. Sherwood will no doubt speak very positively about the new season but he will need new signings to gel quickly and even then it looks like being a bumpy ride.