Dean Smith confident in Aston Villa's firepower after quiet deadline day
Dean Smith is convinced Villa have enough firepower for the Premier League after deadline day passed without them adding another striker.
Newly-promoted Villa made 12 signings at a cost of more than £130million over the course of the summer but saw efforts to further bolster their forward ranks in the window’s final days come to nothing.
That leaves just Jonathan Kodjia and Keinan Davis as back-up to record £22million buy Wesley up front. Yet Smith believes scoring goals will not be a problem and expects them to be spread around the team.
“I think there are goals in the team all over,” he said. “Wesley is not an out-and-out goalscorer.
“If you look at his record at Brugge last season he scored a number of goals but also made a number of assists as well.
“Jota at Birmingham is the same. Trezeguet is the same. Anwar El Ghazi, the same. All these players can do that.”
Kodjia found himself second choice behind Tammy Abraham for much of last season, while Davis missed a large chunk of the campaign through injury.
Smith said: “I feel Jonathan Kodjia’s game is more suited to the Premier League than it was the Championship. I think he can be a big player for us this season.
“You only have to speak to our players to find out what they think of Keinan Davis. He bullies them in training. I had no qualms in keeping the both of them.”
Villa’s biggest deadline day deal involved an existing player, with John McGinn signing a new five-year contract.
Otherwise, the focus was on outgoings. Birkir Bjarnason saw his contract, which had a year left to run, terminated by mutual consent, while James Bree moved to Luton on a season-long loan.
