Aston Villa to battle it out with rivals Birmingham City for in-demand 29-y/o | OneFootball

Aston Villa are the latest club to show an interest in free agent Marcus Bettinelli.

The keeper is on the lookout for a new side after his contract with Fulham expired after over a decade with the Cottagers that saw the stopper play a part in two promotions for the club.

And, it appears he won’t be short on options. It had been reported that Birmingham City were keen on the former England youth international as they look for competition to Neil Etheridge.

However, it’s not going to be straightforward for Blues, with Chelsea known to be keen as they search for a backup, whilst the Mail have now stated that Dean Smith wants to bring the keeper to Villa Park.

That is obviously going to make it harder for Lee Bowyer’s side to do a deal for Bettinelli, which will be a blow for the boss as he will be desperate for a new keeper to arrive as soon as possible.

Current number one Etheridge is battling Covid-19, although he is thankfully out of hospital, whilst Andres Prieto was let go last week.

Can you name the Birmingham City player who has been carded the most in each of the last 16 seasons?

1 of 16

Which player was booked most in the 2004/05 season?

Stephen Clemence

Nicky Butt

Kenny Cunningham

Damien Johnson

The verdict

It appears that Bettinelli is going to have a big decision to make in the coming days and it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

Whilst the chance to join Chelsea, and to a lesser extent Villa, will appeal to the keeper, he will know that game time is going to be really hard to come by at either club.

Bettinelli wouldn’t be guaranteed to start at Blues by any means, but he would have more of a chance, so he has to weigh all these things up before he makes his call.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.