Why Aston Villa must have take a gamble on Everton’s Cenk Tosun
According to reports in Turkey (h/t Birmingham Mail), Aston Villa were interested in signing Everton striker Cenk Tosun this month. However, the striker has joined Crystal Palace on loan until the end of the season and made his debut against Arsenal earlier in the day.
Cenk Tosun, 28, has hardly set the Premier League alight during his time in English football. He has 10 goals in 51 games in an Everton shirt and despite limited minutes this season, the striker netted one goal and registered three assists in his eight appearances across all competitions for the Toffees.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison have been in good form for Everton and Tosun found himself behind those two and Moise Kean in the pecking order. With the Turkey international joining Crystal Palace now, Aston Villa must have pushed hard to quickly swoop for him.
Aston Villa haven’t had an enjoyable return to the Premier League this season, sitting in 17th place and just a point above the relegation zone. They have scored just 27 goals in 21 games despite spending so heavily before the start of the season.
Dean Smith was unable to field a recognised striker in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Leicester City, which ended 1-1. Wesley Moraes has been ruled out for the rest of the season, Keinan Davis is still recovering from a hamstring injury and Jonathan Kodjia missed the Leicester game due to illness.
Jack Grealish is Villa’s top scorer with six goals and striker Wesley is the only other player who has scored more than three for the club. That makes the signing of a new striker so crucial and Smith should have taken a gamble on Cenk Tosun.
Tosun found game time hard to come by this season at Everton, with only 8 appearances for the Toffees. However, he wanted to stay in the Premier League to gain more minutes and secure a place in the Turkish squad for the Euros in the summer. Given this scenario, Villa could have benefited by signing him.
Read more
- Why signing Adebayor would be a viable option for Aston Villa
- Why Aston Villa would be wise to drop their interest in Cengiz Under
- Why Michy Batshuayi would be a good coup by Aston Villa
The Turk would have been an upgrade on the current options at Villa Park and could have provided the quality that Smith’s squad lacks in and around the penalty area.
Before moving to Everton, Tosun proved to be a consistent goalscorer for Besiktas and Smith would have worked wonders by accommodating him in the starting line-up.
Verdict
It is clear that the Villans are in dire need of a striker to improve their performances and move higher up the table. To solve their goalscoring woes, Tosun would have been the right person to lead their attack for the rest of the season.
Hence, it is safe to say that Villa have missed a golden chance to end their striker woes by signing Cenk Tosun.