Aston Villa are ready to table a new bid to sign Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton, it has been claimed.
The Villans had initially made an offer of £4million to acquire the services of Heaton, a bid which was rejected by the Clarets, as per Football Insider via Birmingham Live.
Apparently, a price tag of £12million has been slapped on the collar of the English international. It is to be noted that his contract at Turf Moor expires in a year.
The report further states that Dean Smith’s side are unlikely to go anywhere near the Burnley valuation but are expected to increase their bid significantly.
Following their promotion to the Premier League, Aston Villa have been desperate to beef up their ranks in order to compete against the elite clubs in England.
They have already secured the signings of Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Kortney Hause, Wesley Moraes, Anwar El Ghazi, Jota and Matt Targett this summer.
Smith is now on the lookout for a new shot-stopper to challenge last campaign’s star Jed Steer for a place between the sticks in the upcoming campaign.
Heaton is a signing Smith needs to make
Aston Villa used as many as five custodians last season before they settled on Steer. Smith is keen to add depth to the goalkeeping department this summer, which is why he is in pursuit of Heaton.
The 33-year-old has a huge amount of experience under his belt, having played for the likes of Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers and Bristol City before moving to the Turf Moor in the summer of 2013.
Heaton has been an instrumental figure on the books of Burnley ever since. He impressed during the previous campaign after he paved his way into the starting eleven of their side midway through the season and made a total of 19 appearances in the league.
It has been reported that Dyche wants to shake up the goalkeeping department and while Burnley have named their price for Heaton, Joe Hart has been told he can leave for free. Instead, they will be looking to bring Bailey Peacock-Farrell on board, the young Leeds prospect who will jump at the opportunity of playing in the Premier League.
In all honesty, Heaton would be a handy signing for Aston Villa as he is a reliable goalkeeper and is a leader on and off the pitch. He is good with his reflexes, deals well with the crosses and is a shrewd distributor of the ball. His experience will come in handy as Villa might be put under the pump in the early stages of the season and having a proven operator between the posts might help them tide over the potential sieges on the goal.
If his move to the Villa Park materialises, he would walk straight into the starting lineup. He has been one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the English top-flight despite being consistent with his performances and a move to be a part of an exciting Villa squad will surely appeal to him.
