Aston Villa have made their first move of the January transfer window. With a side in need of an experience central midfielder in order to stem the ever-mounting threat of relegation... Paul Lambert got halfway there, I suppose. Yacouba Sylla, formerly of Ligue 2 side Claremont Foot, has arrived in Birmingham for £2 million. According to the official site, only formalities remain in his acquisition.
Yacouba Sylla joins Aston Villa
Sylla, 22, is a reasonably highly-regarded defensive midfielder, but this isn't the sort of signing that will protect Villa from the drop. At least he's bigger than the midgets that currently comprise the Villans midfield -- at 6'0", Sylla is roughly as tall as Barry Bannan superglued to Ashley Westwood -- and assuming he's at all competent on the ball this should prevent them being so easily bullied down the centre of the pitch.
It’s refreshing to see a side not panicking when threatened with relegation and sticking to their youth revolution, but there’s a reason that sides in trouble spend big to rescue themselves from oblivion. If Villa seriously want to escape the drop zone, they’re almost certainly going to have to do better than this.
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