Since Pepe Reina won’t be staying beyond the current season at Aston Villa, Dean Smith and his team will need to find someone who can replace the Spanish veteran.
The former Liverpool man was brought in to take over from Tom Heaton after the England international picked up a serious knee injury in January, but with him now gone, competition will be needed for the 34-year-old.
Lovre Kalinić appears to have no future at Villa Park, while Jed Steer will do just fine as a third string goalkeeper, meaning a backup is likely to be bought.
That man could end up being AS Roma’s Robin Olsen, as Corriere dello Sport claim the Swede ‘could become an objective for Aston Villa’, who recently appointed Johan Lange as their new director of football.
We’re not sure if the Italian newspaper are putting two and two together here and getting five, and we’ll have to see about that math, but it’s worth pointing out the Sweden international’s loan at Cagliari wasn’t extended beyond June 30th.
He was benched twice out of a possible three games following the restart, after Alessio Cragno, the usual starter, returned from a shoulder injury that had kept him out for the first half of the season.
During his time at Cagliari, Olsen conceded 24 goals in 17 league appearances, keeping just four clean sheets.
