Grant Holt has agreed to join Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season, as the Midlands club look to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
After narrowly avoiding the drop into the Championship last term, it has been another campaign of struggle for Paul Lambert’s side. A 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal has increased the pressure, as whilst nine teams sit below them in the current standings, such is the competiveness of the league they are just five points clear of the bottom three.
Lambert hinted after the defeat to the Gunners that he was keen on Holt, a player he managed whilst both were at Norwich City. Currently of Wigan Athletic, the frontman has scored just twice in 21 games this season. However, the Villa boss believes the 32-year-old, who netted 15 top-flight goals in 2011-12, will provide him with a good option.
Despite his poor return, Wigan were in no particular rush to let the player leave the DW Stadium, as they look to mount a bid for the playoffs. Uwe Rosler’s side are three points off sixth place with a game in hand, but the former Brentford boss accepted that an instant return to the Premier League was always going to turn the player’s head.
“There is a great opportunity for him to work under his previous manager, who got the best out of him. Both parties had worked well together,” Rosler told Sky Sports News Radio. “It was too good a chance for Grant to turn down, we wish him all the best but he is our player and we will see where we are over the summer.”
Holt, meanwhile, told the official Villa club website: “To be able to come back into the Premier League, especially at a club as big as Villa, is fantastic and it’s an opportunity for me to work with the gaffer and his staff again as well. He’s able to get the best out of people, there’s no doubt about that. I know what he wants to achieve here in the long-term and I know what he expects. I’m looking forward to working with him over the coming months to try to help things along and to consolidate the club’s position.”
