Would Aston Villa really take Joleon Lescott?

Aston Villa need an experienced defender -- so say the pundits, so say the media, so says every hack on Twitter. After purchasing Matija Nastasic from Fiorentina over the summer, Joleon Lescott has become surplus to requirements at Manchester City. He's now resigned to coming off the bench to add extra strength and shore up City's leads. Villa are Lescott's boyhood club. A match made in heaven!

The rumor that Lescott might be on his way to Villa seems to be one concocted entirely from thin air by that bastion of reliable reporting, the Daily Mirror. Yes, the club are desperate to shore up their defense. Even those who don't buy into the "experience is essential" narrative are able to agree on that. But Lescott is not a solution to these woes.

First and foremost, Lescott, being from Manchester City, is expensive. Even if Villa could negotiate a decent transfer fee, his wages are likely to beyond the club, who are still desperate to make cuts after Martin O'Neill spent money like he was printing it.

Second, Lescott isn't really the sort of player Paul Lambert tends to pursue. Notice it's those outside the club clamoring for players with Premier League experience. Lambert knows he can best use his limited funds by securing details outside the inflated salaries and fees that plague England's top league. Even if Randy Lerner is showing his faith in Lambert by giving him some pounds to play with, he's not going to use them on a man that doesn't fit within the system he's building at Villa.

Which is great, because seeing that face every weekend would sure put the fans off their dinners.