Carlton Cole: Aston Villa Need More Quality In Midfield For Champions League

Former Aston Villa striker Carlton Cole believes Unai Emery’s team need to strengthen their midfield in this summer’s transfer market.

Villa are preparing to compete in the Champions League next season after finishing fourth in the Premier League last time out.

Emery's men are 7/2 with betting sites to repeat last year's achievement and finish in the top four for a second successive season.

The Villans have been one of the busier English clubs in the window so far, bringing in Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen, Lewis Dobbin, Samuel Iling-Junior, Enzo Barrenechea and Cameron Archer.

But there are no signs that Villa are finished in the market, with Emery’s side continuing to be linked with numerous players.

Midfield Needs To Be Villa's Priority

And after losing Douglas Luiz to Juventus, Cole thinks Villa must look to add to their options in the engine room.

“I think they really need to strengthen the centre of midfield, that’s a department where I think they need reinforcing the most,” he said in an exclusive chat with Gambling.com.

“I love John McGinn as he huffs and he puffs but sometimes you just need that extra quality in the Champions League that I believe they don’t have at the moment.”

Villa have not played in Europe’s leading competition since 1982/83, when they were the holders.

Emery’s team did compete in the Europa Conference League last term, but Cole thinks they need to pad out their squad in all areas ahead of their return to the continent’s top table.

“The defence looks OK to me, maybe strengthen at right-back, but across the whole board I think they need to improve the quality, even another striker,” he added.

“They are going to be stretched this season playing Champions League football and they might suffer a few injuries so the more cover you’ve got in each position the better.”

Cole is best associated with West Ham United, the club where he spent nine years of his career.

But the striker had a season on loan at Villa as a youngster, helping David O’Leary’s team to a top-half finish in the Premier League.

After leaving West Ham in 2015, he had a brief stint at Celtic, a club he previously said he had “always wanted to play for”.

According to betting apps Adam Idah is currently weighing up a permanent switch to Parkhead after a loan spell at the club last term.

And Cole believes a full-time deal would be a positive move for both Idah and Celtic.

“When you’ve made a transfer to Celtic you get to grips with just how big the club is,” he said. 

“I feel like he would embrace that move and if the club really wants him that much they will pull out all the stops to get him but at the same time it is down to the player and the agent to decide the next move.

“It would be great for him to be playing regular, Champions League football, so hopefully he does make the move up there.

“We can talk about money, talk about lifestyle, but the only thing a football player wants to do is to play football games and be loved by the fans, which I’m sure he will get at Cetic.”