Former Aston Villa striker Kevin Phillips has been reacting to the club’s move for Calum Chambers, as per Football Insider.
The Lowdown: Out-of-the-blue Chambers move
Villa recently announced a move for Chambers completely out of the blue, similar to how they brought Danny Ings to the club over the summer.
The under-the-radar transfer made Chambers Villa’s fourth senior acquisition of the January window, penning a three-and-a-half-year deal from Arsenal.
The Gunners failed to activate a clause in the versatile defender’s contract to allow them to extend his deal by a further 12 months, which ultimately placed the defender’s future in his own hands.
The Latest: Phillips comments
Phillips, who regularly features as a pundit on Sky Sports, was talking to Football Insider regarding the move for Chambers. He labelled Villa’s business as ‘amazing’ and heaped praise on the club’s hierarchy for backing Gerrard this month, saying:
“They are the big winners this window, in my opinion. The business Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa have done so far is just amazing. Hats off to the board for backing Steven.
“Steven has clearly had an impact in terms of the players the club can attract. Villa is a massive club, of course, but this calibre of signing hasn’t been seen at the club in a long time. The club is moving in the right direction.
“To bring the players in they have had, with the possibility of a couple more coming in… 1000 per cent Villa have had the best window.
“It has put them in a position where they could challenge for European football.”
The Verdict: Solid transfer window for Villa
Even though Villa haven’t bolstered their central midfield ranks following bids for Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur, they have still enjoyed a respectable transfer window.
They’ve made marquee additions in Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne and have also brought in experienced squad players in Chambers and Robin Olsen.
A central midfielder would have been the icing on the cake, but it seems as if that may have to wait until the summer for Gerrard ahead of his first full season in charge.
In other news: ‘Ridiculous’ – Lots of Aston Villa fans fume at ‘the dumbest’ deadline day move.