Aston Villa punching above weight if landing next target

Although he was an unused substitute in the win over Arsenal, few would argue that Aston Villa landed a real coup when signing Jores Okore over the summer.

Okore had been previously linked with far bigger clubs than Villa, but since Paul Lambert’s arrival, a change in ethos and appearance has resulted in Villa being viewed as a worthy club where young players will get opportunities if they work hard.

This is one reason Villa may feel that they can make an even greater statement than that of Okore by bringing in the extremely highly rated Dane Viktor Fischer from Ajax.

Fischer is another to have been linked with Europe’s best, with his composed nature, superb technique, dribbling ability and spontaneity all appealing attributes.

A playmaker is the missing piece of Lambert’s jigsaw and attempts to capture Hiroshi Kiyotake from Nuremberg have now been put on the back burner.

Fischer will undoubtedly make Villa a better outfit in possession and his eye for a pass from an advanced position would increase the team’s counter attacking potential further.

However, it is his goal tally from midfield that would perhaps be his most valuable contribution.

Fischer scored 10 goals from midfield for Ajax last season and is already off the mark in the current campaign with a strike in the Eredivisie opener with Roda JC.

Ashley Westwood, Fabian Delph and Yacouba Sylla are arguably Villa’s current first-choice midfield trio, but between them they failed to contribute a single Premier League goal in the last campaign from 54 combined starts.

Villa have already shortened into 6/5 to finish in the top half of the Premier League this season and the signing of Fischer would make it exceedingly tough to predict an outcome in the bottom 10.

But should Fischer arrive, there would be greater mileage in the 12/1 that Villa end up exceeding expectation and finishing in the top six.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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