Thierry Henry
Former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Thierry Henry is the frontrunner to take over as Aston Villa manager, reports the Guardian.
Aston Villa sacked Steve Bruce on October 3rd, following a run of only one win in nine Championship games. With U23 coach Kevin MacDonald in charge, Villa lost 2-1 at Millwall on Saturday and are now 15th in the table.
As far as the hunt for the next manager is concerned, the Villans have held positive talks with Henry, who is currently working as Roberto Martínez’s assistant with the Belgium national team.
Should Henry become Aston Villa’s next manager, here are two players he must sign.
Villa are lacking natural goalscorers in their ranks, with Jonathan Kodjia, Tammy Abraham and Anwar El Ghazi all struggling in front of the goal.
Should Henry become the manager, he must use his contacts at Arsenal to bring in teenage prodigy Eddie Nketiah on loan.
Nketiah, 19, has been waiting for his chance at Arsenal this season. But the Gunners are heavily stocked in the attacking department and it looks highly unlikely for the youngster to receive adequate chances under Unai Emery this season.
Hence, a loan move to Villa in January should entice Nketiah as the Arsenal academy wonder would certainly get to learn a lot of tricks under Henry.
If scoring goals have been a problem for Villa this season, their lacklustre defence has been an even bigger problem. Since John Terry left at the end of the last campaign, Villa have lacked a leader in defence with James Chester surprisingly failing to live up to the expectations this season.
Considering that, Henry must prioritize signing a central defender in January. The Frenchman should try signing FC Basel centre-back Eder Balanta once the window reopens.
Balanta, 25, is a ball-playing centre-back who has the potential to plug gaps in a leaky Villa defence. He is quick, powerful and composed on the ball whilst also possessing wonderful balance and strength.
At only 25, Balanta has the best years ahead of him and could develop into a bargain buy for Aston Villa.
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