Two players that have been long linked with a transfer to Aston Villa have been ruled out, according to reports.
The BBC's Pat Murphy today reported that neither Ross McCormack or Patrick Bamford are on Aston Villa's radar, thus ruling them out as potential signings.
Understand Patrick Bamford is NOT on @AVFCOfficial radar,nor Ross McCormack. Irons are in other fires. Still month before k/off.
— Pat Murphy (@patmurphybbc) July 8, 2016
After last season's disappointing campaign in which Villa scored just 27 league goals, a new striker is desperately needed. With this in mind, it is a bit of a shame that a player of McCormack's calibre is not on his way to Villa Park, despite being heavily linked with the Fulham man. Patrick Bamford is more of an enigma, though he did score 17 times for Middlesbrough in the Championship two seasons ago.
Both Bamford and McCormack would've added something to the Villa front line, but I have every faith in the new manager and the board, so when Pat Murphy said that "irons are in other fires", I truly believe that Roberto Di Matteo has options in mind. This is not the end of the world.