Why Aston Villa should sign Kortney Hause on loan in January
Kortney Hause is currently one of the out of favour stars at Wolverhampton Wanderers and the 23-year-old former England U21 international is yet to make his debut in the Premier League this season. However, he is not the only defender at Molineux to have turned into a glorified benchwarmer, with Dominic Iorfa and Ethan Ebanks-Landell facing the same fate.
A youth product of West Ham, Hause made his move to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers in 2012 and joined Wolves in 2014. He was sent out on loan to Gillingham but his loan spell was cut short and he became one of the mainstays of Wolves’ defence in the Championship.
Hause was a regular for Wolves in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons but fell out of favour in the Championship last season, playing only seven minutes in the club’s promotion-winning campaign. The 23-year-old’s involvement has been restricted to a couple of appearances in the Carabao Cup this season.
Stability at the back has been one of the cornerstones of Wolves’ success in the Premier League this season. Conor Coast, Ryan Bennett and Willy Boly have complemented each other very well and have formed a formidable trio at the heart of the defence.
The consistently solid performances of the first-choice defenders have relegated Hause to bench duty at Molineux, so much so that highly-rated summer arrival Leander Dendoncker hasn’t had much game time either. And the former England youth international cannot expect a turnaround of fortunes in the second half of the season unless there is a grave injury crisis at the club.
Hause, who has 19 caps for England at the U20 and U21 levels, is a centre-back who is known for his ability to dominate the opposition in the air.
Standing at 6ft 3in with a towering frame, the 23-year-old is quite fast and agile for a defender and has the ability to get off the ground quickly to beat his offensive counterparts to the aerial balls. As a matter of fact, Hause averaged 4.3 successful aerial duels per game in the 2016/17 season.
He isn’t particularly known for his tackling but Hause is a no-nonsense defender who likes to clear his lines to safety rather than play out from the back.
The youngster averaged a whopping 8.5 clearances per game in the 2016/17 season in the Championship. Blessed with decent positional awareness, the 23-year-old has all the makings of a future star.
To put things into perspective, Aston Villa should try to sign him on loan in January as the youngster has enough Championship experience under his belt to help the Lions achieve a better defensive record.
Susceptibility at the back has been one of the major reasons behind Villa’s failure to push for automatic promotion this season and they need to add more depth to their options at the back in January.
James Chester and Axel Tuanzebe have blown hot and cold at the heart of the defence and the Lions do not have e a specialist replacement if either of the two regular centre-backs is sidelined with an injury. Mile Jedinak has been used at the heart of the defence but that has led to disastrous consequences.
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Suffice to say, a youngster of Hause’s calibre would be the ideal man to provide cover and competition for Chester and Tuanzebe at Villa Park. Hence, they should try to secure his services in January.