Brad Guzan looks set to resume place as first-choice goalkeeper

There has been plenty of speculation that Brad Guzan would leave Aston Villa after his end-of-season demotion, but we may be able to finally put that to bed. According to a report in the Birmingham Mail, Tim Sherwood is ready to stop looking for new keepers and return Guzan to first-choice status between the sticks. The move comes despite (or perhaps because) of the recent departure of Shay Given, who took Guzan's spot after the latter's disastorous match against Manchester City.

Villa were thought to be looking into Stoke City's Asmir Begovic as a starter, but with news that Begovic has signed for Chelsea ruining those plans, it may be a simple matter of Sherwood realizing that he has more pressing issues to deal with now. Guzan has his problems (especially in his distribution, which can stunt the counterattack), but he's great in the air and has a confidence going to the ball that we never saw from Given. With pressing issues at left back and possibly striker (depending on what happens to Christian Benteke) it makes sense that Sherwood would want to take the luxury of having at least one more position settled.

Guzan will rejoin Villa in training after the United States are done competing in the Gold Cup. In his first two matches in that competition, Guzan has only allowed one goal past him, and that came in the USMNT's 2-1 defeat of Honduras in their first match.

If Guzan is indeed back to being first choice, the next question becomes: who is number two? Jed Steer is the logical choice as Tim Sherwood sees him as Villa's keeper of the future, but he may be going out on loan this year, which would move the recently-acquired Mark Bunn into the backup slot.

So, what do you think? Are you glad to see Guzan back in the picture, or would you rather the search for a replacement continue?