Villa’s stinginess up front hampering their already slim chances.
When Aston Villa sold Christian Benteke, they knew they were releasing a stud. Benteke, with his rare mix of brawn and touch, had proven himself to all at Villa Park, scoring regularly in a league where goals don’t come easily. Liverpool’s offer was too good to turn down, but the Birmingham club must have been aware of the void his departure would leave. Another proven goalscorer was needed, and just that season there had indeed been another striker, with a skillset similar to Benteke’s, who had also scored freely. Charlie Austin, by virtue of being an Englishman, had a price tag that others had deemed too big to consider, and Villa took a look and too decided against pursuing QPR’s star forward. They instead opted to secure Blackburn’s towering target-man Rudy Gestede. Now, with eight points after 18 games, and relegation looking incredibly likely, the club might be ruing their own stinginess.
Gestede has not looked capable of scoring with anything like the regularity that Benteke managed, or, one could safely assume, Austin would have achieved. He squandered a handful of headed opportunities against West Ham, and as the commentator generously pointed out, it’s been Jordan Ayew, not Gestede, who has been Villa’s “talisman for… the last week or so”. With more than £30 million to spend after Benteke’s sale, the few million saved on choosing Gestede over Austin now seems a little insignificant. If Gabby Agbonglahor were to leave in January, the next highest Premier League scorer on the books is Ciaran Clark, a third-string defender. Leicester City, leading the league at the moment, were bottom of the league at this point last season. One doubts that Villa, with Gestede as their main striker, will follow a similarly upward path.
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