Carlos Sanchez is set to be unveiled as Aston Villa’s fifth summer signing on Friday after protracted negotiations with Elche, with the fee understood to be worth in the region of €4 million.
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Difficulties arose throughout the week due to third party ownership—partial ownership of a player, unlike in most other leagues, is banned in the Premier League—and Elche are set to receive around half of the income.
The mini-saga, if you’ll call it that, has had Villa fans on tenterhooks all week; no other signing this summer—not even former Liverpool, Valencia, Lyon and FC Porto full-back Aly Cissokho—has had the claret and blue faithful this giddy.
And the reason for that is simple: Carlos Sanchez represents a progressive, ambitious buy in a position of sore, sore need for Villa.
It’s been a long time since Villa Park has seen a reliable, strong destroyer in midfield who can protect the back four. Stiliyan Petrov fulfilled the role well until his career was sadly ended by cancer, and Nigel Reo-Coker was close but his criminally poor passing always let him down.
Sanchez is stronger and more tenacious than Reo-Coker and as sure in the pass as Petrov over close distances. He can’t wave the magic wand nor thread a through-ball like Ashley Westwood, but that’s not his job.
The Colombian has been signed to lock down the holding midfield solo, allowing Villa’s creative central players to roam a little freer and play with more pizzazz. He’s a “sole anchor”—a player, like Victor Wanyama, capable of holding the fort in his own rather than just in a double-pivot—and his muscular physique represents a manager’s dream.
His skills were firmly on our screens at the FIFA World Cup 2014 in June, sitting in midfield with Abel Aguilar and protecting a creaking back four. Mario Yepes, the 38-year-old centre-back, received a lot of surprise credit for how he played in Brazil, but los Cafeteros were setup in steely fashion by Jose Pekerman and Sanchez was key in ensuring five or six were in place to defend at all times.
He played simple passes, broke up play and ensured Colombia were near-impossible to counterattack—even with Pablo Armero recklessly bombing forward from left-back.
Fabian Delph is Villa’s most influential player in the middle and arguably the club’s best while Christian Benteke is out; just think what he could do with Sanchez protecting, or what Westwood could accomplish if he wasn’t so concerned about having to mop up his own mistakes should they occur.
The accusation of Villa’s midfield being a little lightweight or soft in the belly has been true ever since the departure of Petrov, but Sanchez will come in to provide bulk, range, muscle and calm to the area.
It’s one of those signings—as proven during his time with Valenciennes and Elche too—that brings the best out of everyone directly connected to him. Given Villa’s defensive record over the past three seasons and the lack of chance creation too, Sanchez could kill as many as three birds with just a single stone.
