Villa linked with Ajax captain

It's hardly breaking news that Aston Villa are looking for a new left back, and the club have today had a bid rejected for Ajax club captain Nicolai Boilesen.

Both the Birmingham Mail and Dutch news outlet AD.nl (in Dutch) have reported the news that Villa have had a £1.3million bid rejected for the Danish international. However, it appears as though Ajax want another £1million before accepting the offer. At this stage, it is uncertain whether or not Villa will meet this valuation.

What is more certain though, is that Nicolai Boilesen is on his way out of Ajax. Johnny Heitinga's return to the Amsterdam based club has seen Boilesen lose his shirt number, moving from shirt number 5 to number 17. Obviously, this isn't exactly a final nail in the coffin, but in addition, Ajax director Marc Overmars said of Boilesen:

"He has indicated that he wants to look abroad, and that is fine."

Boilesen would be a solid addition to an Aston Villa side. Still only 23, he has experience both at an international, and continental level, earning himself a position in the Champions League team of the week after his performance against Barcelona this season. On the one hand, signing a player with no Premier League experience is a risk, but signing a young player such as Boilesen for just £2-2.5million is a risk worth taking. It's not a huge amount of money, and if it doesn't work out, it is likely that a number of sides in the Danish Superliga would be willing to sign him, especially given that he has staked a claim on the left back position for the National Team in recent years. Finally, it is worth considering that Boilesen came through the Danish National youth ranks alongside Jores Okore. This could provide useful chemistry in defence that Villa lacked at times this season.

Let's hope this is true and that it actually happens. Because I don't really want to think of the Kieran Richardson alternative.