Tony Xia pulled this one out of the hat.
Aston Villa have gone and signed a Premier League medalist and a former Manchester United defender in Richie De Laet.
The fee is believed to be in the region of £2.5m and no-one saw it coming. Not even the “In The Knows.”
Ha ha just seen “Xia’s on fire…ITKs are terrified” 👏🏼 #AVFC 🙃🙃🙃
— JulieBAVFC (@Julie_Bayley_) August 22, 2016
The 27-year-old Belgian is another strong, reliable recruit for Roberto Di Matteo as Villa continue to search for an elusive second win in the Championship.
It also means Alan Hutton will finally be put under a bit of pressure for that full back position and it means the team are slowly but surely infesting the poisoned squad with experienced pros. And Lescott and Richards. And Agbonlahor.
Transfer news: We’re pleased to announce the signing of Ritchie De Laet on a three-year deal. #AVFC #WelcomeRitchie pic.twitter.com/tudqbiOHgz
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) August 23, 2016
Still, even in the face of a good signing, people are not happy.
Of course they’re not.
Feedback.
https://twitter.com/jrwyke/status/768030692475297792
Just delete.
Ctrl Alt De Laet
— Sam Huxley (@samhuxley) August 23, 2016
De Laet your account.
— Liam Happe (@liamhappe) August 23, 2016
Some were even more offended than that.
https://twitter.com/JabHookNQPR/status/768032402073608192
Signing Ritchie De Laet comes with all sorts of expectations…
https://twitter.com/imjoshuasmith/status/768048799696687105
https://twitter.com/AVFCSAMVTID/status/768031559295328257
Well…
https://twitter.com/LozaDB/status/768039935433728000
Some people were happy though.
https://twitter.com/harryiacopo/status/768039230887104512
But Leicester fans were happier.
https://twitter.com/ethan_henson_/status/768030774687858688
This is unfair.
https://twitter.com/EEL__55/status/768037378405511168
Mind your own business!
he is shit
— Jenkz (@Jenkz20) August 23, 2016
shite
— Reece (@1872RBK) August 23, 2016
Stats. Of course.
Attempted Tackles per game @ RB 15/16
Bacuna 4.3 (30)
de Laet 3.5 (35)
Richards 2.5 (10)
Hutton 2.4 (63)#avfc— TheFace (@TheFace34) August 23, 2016
Dribbled Past per game @ RB 15/16
Hutton 0.5 (13)
de Laet 0.8 (8)
Bacuna 1 (7)
Richards 1 (4)#avfc— TheFace (@TheFace34) August 23, 2016
Fouls per game @ RB 15/16
de Laet 0.8 (8)
Bacuna 1 (4)
Hutton 1.1 (28)
Richards 1.3 (5)#avfc— TheFace (@TheFace34) August 23, 2016
The stats that matter.
https://twitter.com/J_J_Farrell/status/768032530780000256
Really though…
https://twitter.com/Rafi69247/status/768030623382372352
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