Aston Villa: Journalist claims signing will send ‘shockwaves’ to duo

On the Claret and Blue podcast this week, journalist Ashley Preece claimed that the signing of Sevilla defender Diego Carlos will send ‘shockwaves’ through the dressing room and particularly through defensive duo Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.

Both defenders have been mainstays in the Aston Villa starting eleven since they arrived on the scene and with the new signing of Carlos, it would seem that their manager Steven Gerrard and the Villa brass are sending a message to the players that they are concentrating on improving the team in almost every position, no one is safe.

Preece declared that the signing will rattle the duo as they have both struggled with form and injuries throughout the seasons and therefore have not found the consistency they would have liked, despite not having an awful defensive record as a club.

He said: “I think this signing has sent shockwaves around the dressing room, for me. Konsa and Mings are thinking now, ‘blimey, we could be in trouble next season in terms of starting’.”

TIF Thoughts on Preece’s comments…

1 of 10

Do you remember where Aston Villa made their signings from? Take our quiz to find out! First up, who did Frederic Guilbert turn out for immediately before moving to Villa Park?

Villa hasn’t been bad defensively this season as they finished in the top ten for goals conceded and managed to keep 11 clean sheets over the season but getting the option to improve the backline is so important in today’s game. Snapping up a player Carlos will do wonders for their defence however as he has been a part of the best defence in La Liga and who finished in the Champions League spot and who were unlucky not to go further than the last 16 in the Europa League.

Mings and Konsa should feel concerned about the signing of Carlos as he is 29 years of age and therefore has been bought in to start for the Villans next season, which will come at the cost of one of their starting positions. Mings has played most of the season with 35 appearances but has dealt with the odd knock throughout the season but Konsa has missed more time as he kicked up a knee injury against Crystal Palace on May 15th which has been reported to keep him out for up to 16 weeks which will be a lot of the summer period when Carlos will be integrating himself.

It feels as if non of the defence is nailed on to start next season and so bringing in new faces should strike fear into the players as they could not only be on the bench but heading through the exit door if they do not step up.