Express & Star

Comment: Two weeks for Aston Villa and Wolves to define their seasons

The final fortnight of the transfer window is shaping up to potentially be season-defining for the region’s two Premier League clubs, albeit for very different reasons.

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At Villa the need for new recruits to breathe new life into a season which has veered alarmingly close to the rocks is obvious, with the point being hammered home in rather emphatic fashion by Sunday’s 6-1 defeat to Manchester City.

It does not feel a stretch to say what happens over the next two weeks, both on and off the pitch, will go some way to determining whether the club’s top flight return lasts more than just a single season.

Villa face Brighton, Watford and Bournemouth - three teams who are also very much part of the relegation battle, with head coach Dean Smith needing a decent return of points to ease scrutiny on his own position.

In the meantime, sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch and chief executive Christian Purslow are working close to round the clock to secure the forward reinforcements required following the loss of record signing Wesley for the rest of the season.

This is a pivotal period for the club’s recruitment team, led by Pitarch, yet to which Purslow and Smith also have considerable input.

For all that has already been written about last summer’s £127million spend, the only thing which can be said for certain at this point is it did not uncover enough immediate Premier League performers to keep Villa out of trouble.

The focus this month has been on adding some much-needed top flight experience to the ranks, to which the early arrivals of Danny Drinkwater and Pepe Reina are testament.

Both are seen as possessing the necessary character for the battle ahead, albeit Drinkwater will have to bounce back quickly after something of a nightmare debut against City.

Even if the midfielder does come good, it will not solve Villa’s crisis in the forward department.

Aston Villa's Danny Drinkwater

Wesley’s injury, coupled with Keinan Davis’ continued fitness struggles and Jonathan Kodjia’s lack of focus, means Villa are ideally looking to add two new players in the area of the pitch where it is always the most difficult to recruit and even more so in January.

Any supporters expecting the club to splash out big money on a striker are going to be disappointed. No signing guarantees Premier League safety and with Financial Fair Play concerns to consider, the board are not going to risk an outlay which might create major headaches should the worst happen and Villa find themselves back in the Championship.

The likes of Jay Rodriguez and Islam Slimani are far more realistic targets, yet even they might not tick the boxes of being both affordable and available.

Wolves too are in the market for strikers but while their sights may be set somewhat higher, they too are experiencing some of the same difficulties as their Midlands rivals when trying to secure quality recruits during the January window.

It is also true that, like Villa, their need for additions has been made more pressing by summer recruitment which, at least in the case of Patrick Cutrone and Jesus Vallejo, did not deliver all that was hoped.

This has so far been another excellent season for Wolves, who are once more riding high in the top half of the Premier League, having coped admirably with the added demands of the Europa League which saw their season begin back in July.

The ongoing question remains how the club goes about taking the next step and though it promises to become a much larger topic come the summer, in the here and now they must ensure the current campaign delivers on its promise.

Wolves remain well placed, seventh in the table, just three points adrift of fifth. Their position and points haul is better than at the same stage last season.

But that fourth spot which seemed so tantalisingly close a few weeks ago is now considerably further away, after a run of three matches without a win which has highlighted the need for them to be active in the market.

Granted, Champions League qualification was never considered a realistic target this term. It would still be a huge shame, however, if Wolves were to slide back further into the pack.

Raul Jimenez of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Harry Maguire of Manchester United (AMA)

There is perhaps nothing which sums up Wolves current position better than the fact they have recorded two wins over Manchester City but only five against the rest of the Premier League.

Their first choice XI, in form, is arguably as strong as any in the division bar Liverpool and City. The issue is depth, with last weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle proving no better case in point.

Time and again during the second half Nuno Espirito Santo could be seen glancing at his bench but when a change was finally made, with five minutes remaining, it was wing-back Ruben Vinagre who replaced Pedro Neto on the flank.

There are some who will point out Nuno has perhaps contributed to the problem. Notoriously demanding of his players, it has always been his preference to operate with a relatively small squad.

Yet it is doubtful he ever envisioned having one quite so thin as this. Over the past two weeks he has made more public pronouncements on the need for new signings than in his previous two-and-a-half years at Molineux combined.

The club’s rise during that period has been remarkable but it is not only the ambitions of the fanbase which has been heightened by the success.

Finding a way to crack the elite, particularly in the age of FFP, was never going to easy, though in many respects that is a long-term challenge to which the club are always working toward.

The immediate task, over the next two weeks, is adding the required reinforcements to ensure there is no short-term loss of momentum.