Transfer Speculation
As per one of the recent reports by Bristol City Post, Aston Villa are tracking Bristol City’s left-back, Joe Bryan, and are keen to land him to their ranks in they manage to pave their way to the Premier League next season. The Villans are currently in a commanding position to make it to the play-offs of the Championship and are pushing themselves for the automatic qualification spot.
Fact File
Bryan blossomed in the youth ranks of Bristol City and steadily engineered his way to the senior side of the Robins. The Englishman was shipped out on loan to Bath City and Plymouth Argyle, which helped him to accumulate some first team experiences under his belt. He has been in a notable form for his current club for quite some time now and no wonder why Aston Villa are keen to sign him.
Attributes
The 24-year-old is predominantly a left-back but is versatile enough to ply his trade as a left-sided midfielder as well as a left-winger. Time and again, Bryan has shown that he is more than capable of playing for a Premier League side. He is quite resilient at the back and gallops forward time and again to help his side in their attacking endeavours.
He has proven to be an excellent tackler and is a really cool and composed figure at the back. Bryan operates on the pitch with a lot of hunger and willingness, makes stupendous crosses, times his blocks and interceptions with sheer confidence to save the blushes of his employers and no wonder why his stocks are so highly rated.
Season So Far
The Bristol City defender has chiselled yet another decent season for himself in the Championship. He has played 35 times in the English second tier, only 1 of which has been as a substitute. He has scored 3 goals and has also collected 2 assists and has made 2.9 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, 3.2 clearances and 0.2 block per game on an average, which are some really appealing statistics.
Why Aston Villa Need Him
Neil Taylor has failed to cement his place at the left-back slot for Steve Bruce’s side and if Aston Villa eventually get promoted, they would need to enhance the quality of their back line. In such a situation, Bryan could be a major coup for the Lions owing to his pace, attacking abilities, defensive stability and it has seemingly appeared that he is set to play at the top level.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored