Josh McEachran a loan target for Aston Villa
Saturday 24th December 2011, 10:59AM GMT.
Alex McLeish has hinted Chelsea playmaker Josh McEachran could be a loan target for Aston Villa.
The Villa boss has made a new central midfielder his priority in January having seen on-loan Tottenham man Jermaine Jenas ruled out for the remainder of the season.
McLeish enquired about the 18-year-old in the summer but at that stage Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas wanted to keep McEachran at Stamford Bridge.
However, McEachran has found his opportunities limited to one substitute appearance in the Premier League and a handful of Carling Cup games.
The England Under-21 international has also been linked with a switch to Bolton and Villa’s hopes of securing the player could hinge on Chelsea’s pursuit of Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill, so McLeish remained coy on the prospect of a deal for McEachran.
“There is no movement at the moment. We are thinking about trying to add to the squad and it is probably not fair for me to talk about players at other clubs while there is no business being done,” said McLeish.
“He (McEachran) is one of their hottest prospects. I think they are thinking about loaning him, yes. At the start of the season they weren’t, but the word is they are thinking about it.
“But I don’t want to say yes about anything because I am juggling a few balls.”
Meanwhile, Villa striker Darren Bent is determined to make a difference against Stoke on Boxing Day as he eyes a return after a thigh injury.
“It is an important part of the season for all teams with so many games,” said Bent.
UK Sport
Latest Blog — A week is a long time in football
This time last week we were staring down the barrel, third from bottom with a worse record than at the same stage last year, writes Saddlers blogger Mark Jones.
Saddlers Blog
Business Awards
Book a Business Awards table
Join our celebrations of the region's best in business on Thursday March 22 - book your table now
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
