An update has emerged regarding Aston Villa’s interest in Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell.
What’s the talk?
According to Football Insider, Villa are currently working on a deal to sign the Canaries attacking midfielder. Johan Lange is pushing to sign the England under-21 international for a ‘sizeable’ fee, although no specific figures are mentioned.
It was reported earlier this week that it would take between £40m and £50m for Norwich to part ways with Cantwell this summer, having already sold Emi Buendia to Dean Smith’s side.
Nightmare
Lange must avoid a transfer nightmare with Cantwell this month. It would be a mistake for the club to pay up to £50m for the midfielder this summer, as it would be a significant overpayment for his services.
He is valued at £19.8m by Transfermarkt, whilst his former teammate Buendia’s value is listed as £31.5m following his £34.56m move to Villa earlier in the window. This suggests that he is not worth anywhere near as much as the Argentine, which is why Lange must not pay £15m more for Cantwell than he did for Buendia.
There is also the question of where the 23-year-old would fit in. Dean Smith currently has Anwar El-Ghazi, Bertrand Traore, Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins at his disposal in attack. Watkins, Ings and El Ghazi all hit double figures for goals in the Premier League, whilst Bailey scored nine in the Bundesliga and Buendia managed 15 goals and 16 assists in the Championship.
Meanwhile, Cantwell scored six goals and set up another six in the second tier for the Canaries. This suggests that he may not be a better option than any of the aforementioned players, which means that he could only be a back-up at Villa Park next season.
His former Norwich coach Gary Cockaday called his talent God-given when speaking to The Athletic in October, saying: “Todd looked at one of them in the eye, put his toe under the ball, flicked it back over his head, turned and he was gone. All without looking at the ball.
“He did things every week that were just special. It was God-given. No one taught it. I always believed if you had someone like that, don’t change them or make them conform.”
Whilst Cantwell may have talent and have the potential to improve further, Villa should not be paying £50m for a player who could be sat on their bench for the majority of the campaign. If the price was significantly lower then it may be a different discussion, but that does not appear to be the case here.
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