Villa unlikely to sell USMNT star Guzan for reported price

Brad Guzan may be the next Aston Villa player headed out the door if a report in the Daily Mail is to be believed. Joe Bernstein writes that Tim Sherwood is still looking for a new first-choice goalkeeper and that the manager would be willing to let Guzan go for a mere £3 million. So if you're a Guzan fan, start your panicking now.

Or don't. This is the first report I've seen in a few weeks saying that Guzan could leave, and the number seems to be pulled out of thin air (or perhaps TransferMarkt.co.uk). Given the fact that Guzan has two years left on his contract and the fact that he is a proven Premier League starter, £3 million seems awfully low. I'd imagine if Guzan were to go, he'd likely be going somewhere where he would be a starter, and that sort of move would probably be in the £5-6 million range.

But why quibble over numbers? All of the reports from Portugal seem to indicate that, after bumping him from the spot at the end of last season, Sherwood is ready to keep Guzan as his starter. In the past week alone the Birmingham Mail's Gregg Evans has written categorically at least twice that Guzan is the first choice. There is no indication that Sherwood has plans to change things, and every indication that he has been impressed by the American's performance in the Gold Cup. Even if he were unsure, why make yet another demand on the transfer market when he still has a few pressing holes to fill as it is? The money will run out eventually, and there's no need to create a need where none exists.

Certainly, something could change. But for now this seems like the type of rumour put out simply to bolster a slow news day. Which is weird, given that Aston Villa have been anything but slow lately. If anything changes, we'll let you know, but just assume that Guzan is first choice right now.