Aston Villa must not sign former Liverpool man Divock Origi if they are to avoid another costly transfer mistake.
What’s the latest on Aston Villa’s interest in Divock Origi?
According to Italian outlet Calciomercato.it, out-of-favour AC Milan forward Origi is being heavily linked with a return to the Premier League after a disastrous season in Serie A.
The piece suggests West Ham, Leeds, Crystal Palace and Villa are all ready to make an approach for the 27-year-old, who has another three years to run on his contract at San Siro.
Origi joined the Rossoneri on a free transfer last summer after a trophy-laden eight years at Anfield where he played a clutch, albeit rarely from the start, role including scoring the second goal in the 2019 Champions League final to clinch the title for the Reds.
Why is Origi the wrong move for Aston Villa?
Despite his successes and silverware at Liverpool, Origi has not started more than seven league matches in a season since a loan spell at Wolfsburg from 2017-2018.
The Belgian marksman has only scored two goals in 26 appearances for Milan this season, and has now fallen down the pecking order behind 41-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has only just returned from a serious knee injury that kept him out for nearly a whole season.
His performances have been so underwhelming that journalist Alvise Cagnazzo dubbed him Serie A’s ‘worst signing of the season’ in his column for the Mail.
Villa have form when bringing in former Liverpool cult heroes that have struggled after moving abroad from Merseyside, with Phillipe Coutinho flattering to deceive since his move to the Midlands.
Villans captain John McGinn has admitted the £125k-per-week man has come under “a lot of criticism” (via Birmingham Live) for his poor performances for the club.
These luxury signings of big-name players who have enjoyed success previously in the Premier League also contravenes a transfer policy that is seeing them reportedly linked with several promising young players who can go grow and develop under manager Unai Emery.
With the Spaniard enjoying a fine start to life at Villa Park, and the club’s project seemingly on an upward trajectory towards European football, bringing in a player like Origi – who earns a reported £87k-per-week in Italy – does nothing but stagnate the progress of young players, clog the wage bill and give fans more ammunition to criticise the transfer policy that bought in Coutinho, only for him to flop terribly.