Big boost for Villa as The Ivory Coast crash out of AFCON

The reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions Ivory Coast have been knocked out of this season’s tournament by Morocco in a thrilling encounter. The previous favourites to win the tournament fell to a 1-0 defeat to Morocco, a team that began its campaign as 12/1 shots. This is upsetting news for the Elephants but will provide a massive boost for Aston Villa who will be ecstatic to welcome back Jonathan Kodjia.

Most people expected Michel Dussuyer’s formidable force to make it to the latter stages of the African tournament this year and the Villans had come to terms with the fact that they would lose their top goal scorer for up to six weeks. Kodjia (see video below) has scored nine goals for Villa this season and will be crucial to any hopes of pushing for a place in the play-offs by the end of the campaign. His return will hopefully spark a much-needed change of fortune. The Villa boys are still seeking a win in 2017 and have only picked up two points since the Boxing Day victory over Burton Albion.

Steve Bruce has been quick to make big changes to the squad during his first transfer window in charge at Villa Park. He has already secured the services of Sam Johnstone, Henri Lansbury, James Bree and Birkir Bjarnason and is looking to acquire more reinforcements as well as offload some dead weight.

Ross McCormack, the failed summer signing, is one of the players who could be on his way to the exit door just six months after signing from Fulham. According to Oddschecker, a move back to Craven Cottage could well be on the cards if Villa receive the majority of the £12 million they paid for the Scottish striker. The once prolific Championship attacker has only notched three times in twenty appearances this season for Villa and is a shadow of his former self.

If Villa can sell the out-of-favour frontman then the money could be used to bring in a more reliable replacement. The club has already had two bids rebuffed by Middlesbrough for their striker Jordan Rhodes, but Bruce is expected to return with an offer in excess of £10 million for the man who scored 155 goals in the second tier between 2009 and 2016.

With Kodjia back in B6 shortly, and impressive-looking signings to bolster the squad, things may look a lot differently for Villa as they look ahead to the last few months of the season. If the sharp shooter Rhodes does sign, Villa could just clinch that spot in the play-offs and make a last-gasp push for promotion.

Related

Leave a reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest posts

Google search engine

Categories