Aston Villa will need to sell one or two players before they can consider welcoming Peter Crouch back at the club.
With just one day remaining in the transfer window, Aston Villa could still do with one more striker in their ranks.
Jonathan Kodjia has missed the start of the season with a broken ankle, Scott Hogan’s move from Brentford in January has been blighted by injuries and Ross McCormack seems certain to leave after falling out with manager Steve Bruce.
This is not the first time Villa have been linked with the 6ft 7ins veteran this summer. The Sun reported back in June that Bruce was hopeful of bringing Crouch to Villa Park with the fillip of regular first-team football and the prospect of reuniting with former England team-mate John Terry.
Crouch has still got the goalscoring touch at the age of 37, netting eight goals in his last 19 games including the equaliser against West Brom on Saturday. However, starts are difficult to come by for the former Liverpool man, who came off the bench in over half of his 27 league appearances last season.
Yet, the 42-time England international remains a respected figure at Villa Park, where he enjoyed two years as a player before moving to Southampton in 2004.
The problem, however, is wages. The Birmingham Mail add that Villa may need to get players off their books before bringing in reinforcements, with McCormack, Tommy Elphick and Gary Gardner among those allowed to leave.
Crouch is a Premier League player on Premier League wages – and that will test the depth of Villa’s bank balance.
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