Aston Villa: Roberto Di Matteo thought he had sourced "important addition" in EFL, but eight-figure deal flopped | OneFootball

McCormack failed to justify such a hefty price tag in B6

The summer of 2016 saw Aston Villa prepare for their first spell in the EFL since a one-season stint under Graham Taylor back in 1988.

After years of circling the relegation plughole, the Villans eventually fell into the Championship after accumulating a measly figure of 17 points in the 2015/16 campaign, and a major rebuild was needed to achieve the club's ambitions of a first-time promotion back to the Premier League.

In order to aid such a cause, out went under-fire American businessman Randy Lerner, who was swiftly replaced by Dr Tony Xia in the B6 boardroom, with the Chinese owner completing his initial £76.2m takeover in June 2016 and subsequently instilling former UEFA Champions League winner, Roberto Di Matteo in the Villa Park hotseat.

Despite the excitement which surrounded a summer spending spree that reached up to £56m in the Italian's only transfer window, only four of his incomings would make a significant impact on the club's eventual top-flight return under Dean Smith three years later.

And, given his prior exploits at this level, the £12m coughed up to prize Ross McCormack away from Fulham has to go down as the biggest transfer mishap from their time in the second tier.

Roberto Di Matteo believed in McCormack

He was dubbed an "important addition" to Aston Villa

After moulding a new-look squad ahead of the 2016/17 season, McCormack's arrival in B6 was confirmed on August 4th - three days before the club's season opener against Sheffield Wednesday.

At the time, Villa still had the services of both Jordan Ayew and Rudy Gestede to also call upon in forward areas, although the services of one of the EFL's most prolific frontmen looked to signal the club's intent even further.

The man who was signed by Fulham for £11m just two seasons previous, had been named the club's Player of the Season in both of his campaigns at Craven Cottage, as well as earning a place in the divisional team of the year with an overall record of 42 goals and 22 assists for the Cottagers.

Unsurprisingly, Di Matteo was quick to heap praise on his prior record, which also included 58 goals in 157 games for Leeds United, and highlight the importance of tying down the then-29-year-old to a four-year contract at Villa Park.

"He is a player whose goalscoring record has been excellent everywhere he has been, and we feel he can be an important addition," he said.

He scored 3 goals and have a public bust-up with Steve Bruce

Given the prior record, as well as partnering with the likes of Ayew, Gestede and Jonathan Kodjia, there was an expectancy in the air surrounding Villa's potential goalscoring exploits under Di Matteo, who had previously won promotion from the Championship with West Brom.

However, the Italian only lasted 12 games in charge, with McCormack only netting in two of those, against Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest.

The experience of Steve Bruce then saw Villa steady themselves on the pitch after a turbulent start to life as an EFL side which saw them languishing as low as 20th in mid-October.

However, whilst being selected in 12 matchday squads under Bruce, the 13-time Scotland international continued to fail when it came to justifying the hefty transfer fee, with his final goal for the club coming on Boxing Day 2016 in a 2-1 success over Burton Albion.

Just weeks later, Bruce would publicly call out the striker after McCormack failed to report to the club's Bodymoor Heath training ground, due to an infamous incident involving the player's electric gates outside of his home, which the experienced forward claimed wouldn't open.

It was reported by the Sunday Mirror that Bruce even drove to his house and took numerous photos to prove to McCormack that an alternative route to the club base near Tamworth, could have been found.

"In my opinion he is not fit enough to play and he will not play unless his attitude towards training and missing training improves. If that improves then I will reconsider him but if he continues to miss training, as he has done, that will be the situation," Bruce stated via The Independent.

"He has just not turned off. The latest excuse was that his gates had stuck but he couldn’t jump over a fence that was four feet six inches high," he added. "There has been too much indiscipline here at Villa. Not in 20 years in management have I ever gone down this route but I feel I have to make a stance because I will not put up with it on my watch."

Bruce concluded his strong stance on the matter by saying: "He has decided the team has picked itself. How can I pick him when he doesn't come into training? His failure to turn up for training has happened more than once. Everyone can have an excuse but when it is more than once I will not accept it."

A 1-0 defeat to Wolves in January 2017 would mark McCormack's final appearance in Claret and Blue, with the man said to be on a weekly wage of £40,000 per week subsequently shipped out on loan to Nottingham Forest, Melbourne City, Central Coast Mariners and Motherwell.

McCormack would eventually see his contract terminated after the club's 2-1 victory in the play-off final against Derby County, which would have seen the most unjustified of wage hikes reach up to a reported £70,000 per week figure.

Whilst the following trajectories of both Villa and McCormack have since gone in polar opposite directions, many will still feel a source of frustration when it comes to the eight-figure transfer, with it becoming one of the Second City outfit's biggest transfer blunders.