Jul
9
Steve Sidwell Signed by Aston Villa
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Aston Villa signed Steve Sidwell for an estimated £5 million today, beginning what is expected to be a busy summer for the team. Martin O’Neill, manager of Villa, expressed interest in the Chelsea midfielder starting at the end of the season and has been one of his main transfer targets for this offseason. The team hopes that Sidwell’s presence will help offset the disappointment from the expected Gareth Barry move to Liverpool.
The 25-year-old Sidwell hopes to rebuild his career under O’Neill after a lack of opportunities under Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant (his last two managers.) Sidwell has had a good past in the soccer world, having been a part of the Arsenal FA Youth Cup winners in both 2000 and 2001. He then moved to Reading, where he played a big part in getting the team established in the Premier League two years back. After that he went to star-packed Chelsea and is now with Villa where he will certainly look for a bigger role than he had last season.
Martin O’Neill has got one of his targets, but will continue working to get other players he likes including possibly Paul Robinson, James Milner and David Bentley. Aston Villa was the smallest squad in the Premier League last year and after a few more players left, the manager knows that he must reinvigorate the team.