Villa move for Manuel Almunia as keeper merry-go-round cranks up
Published 23:00 11/08/10 By Football Spy
Aston Villa are preparing a shock move to bring Manuel Almunia to Villa Park as the goalkeeping merry go-round takes another twist.
A triangle of moves is set start with Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer joining Arsenal and Villa's Brad Friedel moving down to Craven Cottage to replace him.
That would leave managerless Villa without a keeper, but they are keen to sign Almunia, even though he struggled last season and made a number of crucial blunders.
The Spanish keeper has played little in pre-season as Wenger opted to have a look at Polish keeper Lukasz Fabianski, while talented youngster Wojciech Szczesny is also being talked about as a future Arsenal number one.
Even though Martin O'Neill has left the Midlands club, they are still looking to sign a big name replacement if Friedel leaves and are hoping that a new challenge will get the best out of Almunia.
Despite last season's let-down, Almunia was still one of the best keepers in the Premier League when it came to the number of clean sheets.
Villa are expected to name their new manager before the Premier League game against Newcastle on August 22 and the deal for Almunia could be finalised next week.
