Aston Villa transfer mistake exposed as Dean Smith target now valued at £100m

Aston Villa spent nearly £100million last summer in filling the void left behind by Jack Grealish.

Villa's former talisman left the club for a record £100million as he became the most expensive British footballer in history. The trio of signings who arrived to replace his influence, Emiliano Buendia, Danny Ings and Leon Bailey have struggled in parts this season to find their feet following their respective summer transfers.

And things could have worked out a lot differently, with Villa said to have been considering moves for several attackers following Grealish's exit. Former head coach Dean Smith was reportedly keen to bring back former striker Tammy Abraham to Villa Park, with The Telegraph claiming in the weeks leading up to the 2021/22 season that he was the 'preferred' option to add depth in the centre-forward position.

According to Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, Villa had been in 'advanced talks' with Chelsea over Abraham and were set to meet the club's asking price for the striker, which was reduced to below £40million. A deal to bring the striker back to the club never materialised and he has found a new home in Rome. But the forward will always be welcome at Villa Park and has fond memories at B6.

Instead of rejoining Villa, he left for Italy and is going from strength to strength at Roma, continuing to impress under Jose Mourinho in Serie A. Abraham has found some excellent form in the Italian capital having hit 23 goals in 41 outings in all competitions - the best goalscoring top-flight season of his career so far. The 24-year-old has been linked with a summer transfer to Arsenal, despite only joining Roma at the start of this campaign.

Chelsea also have a buy-back clause in Abraham’s contract that