Ex-Aston Villa man praises potential arrival as Lopetegui targets reunion with Wolves stalwart

Aston Villa are in advanced talks to sign Luton Town midfielder Ross Barkley in a move which would see him return to the West Midlands for a second stint.

Barkley joined Aston Villa on loan in the 2020/21 campaign and made 24 appearances for the Villains in a mid-table season under Dean Smith. The Everton academy graduate showed flashes of potential after a difficult injury-hit spell at Chelsea which saw him mostly struggle to achieve first team football.

Barkley had a difficult few seasons after his loan spell at Villa Park came to an end, but has once again shown signs of his best form during a strong individual showing for Luton Town despite the club’s relegation.

Many feel Barkely was unfortunate not to be in Gareth Southgate’s provisional squad after his displays for the Hatters and former Villa defender Alan Hutton has lauded the potential arrival - describing Barkley as ‘an experienced player who makes the squad better.’

In an interview with Villa News, he added: “Do I think he comes in and plays week in and week out? I’m not so sure so that will be up to him. They’ve obviously got Boubacar Kamara to come back, Douglas Luiz who has speculation surrounding him and John McGinn.

“You’ve got different options so I think he will definitely come into compete for those places but I’m not sure he’s going to start week in and week out. That’s what we’ve probably seen has been missing with Villa over the last few months where they have picked up a number of injuries.”

Hutton adds that Barkley’s knowledge of Aston Villa and his prior experience will stand him in good stead.

“You look at the bench at the weekend and it’s full of youngsters which is great because they get their moment to come in and shine, but when you’re going for top four and playing in the Champions League the squad needs to be bigger and there needs to be more experience within that as well.

“He knows what the club is about, I actually really liked him when he first came to the club, it was just unfortunate that he got an injury which hampered him. But he knows what it is all about and he knows a lot of the boys so he can fit in seamlessly,” Barkley explained.

Julen Lopetegui targets reunion with Wolves stalwart

Former Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui is back in the Premier League in his first role since his bombshell exit from Molineux in August.

Lopetegui replaces David Moyes in the London Stadium dugout and is hoping to quickly use his Wolves connections to his advantage as he bids to strengthen his side’s leaking back line.

The main criticism of West Ham in recent times has been their defensive record and one player that Lopetegui reportedly thinks can rectify that issue is Wolves captain Max Kilman, according to Molineux News.

Kilman played in every league game of the Loptegui era and was notably handed the club captaincy by the Spainard just days after Ruben Neves departure in pre-season.