Fer to Villa collapses

EDIT: It appeared that Fer to Villa was a done deal - but Villa pulled the plug at the 11th hour... Fer to Villa is a no-go.

We are nearing the end of the transfer deadline and Aston Villa have completed another signing of the day. Leroy Fer will join from Swansea City to become Villa’s latest deal of the Winter transfer window.

For most of the day, Fer had seemed set to become a Lille OSC player - having been linked with a move to France for the past week.

This was of course until reports from the Netherlands leaked Leroy’s desire to stay in England, with Aston Villa presenting themselves as an option of incredible interest to the former QPR midfielder.

Fer has been a constant feature for Swansea City this season, and Villa fans will remember him fondly (not) thanks to his 10/10 match-winning performance against the Villa in the FA Cup earlier this month.

It would seem that AVFC have opted away from signing a more defensive-minded midfielder in order to stack their midfield trio with creativity and agility - a bold move.

This transfer may seem questionable to some - with Villa having rather publicly discussed a transfer philosophy that would shy away from signing players over a certain age due to the lack of market value carried by these type of player - but it’s important to remember that experience is still needed in a squad, and Villa will lose a lot of that this coming summer.

It’s all done though - and Leroy is a Villan. Welcome!