10 Weirdest Football Transfers That Happened This Summer
7. Tom Heaton To Aston Villa (8m)
Villa are not f***ing about this summer. As of the time of writing they have signed a whopping 12 players this summer, clearing 100m, easily with time to spare for a few last minute deals. This deal isn’t a weird one for the decision to move to Aston Villa as a club because, lets face it, even though they’ve been missing from England’s top league for what feels like decades, we all marked out when we realised we’d see the former European champions return to where they belong – no, Burnley have made this deal very, very weird.
Tom Heaton is a class act in the net. A premier league standard keeper (academy graduate from Manchester United) who played 200 times for the clarets and has 3 England caps. Burnley, obviously have Nick Pope as a priority for the club but he is a keeper for the future, not one who will guarantee safety in the world’s most competitive league.
Then there’s Joe Hart. The former England number 1 and title winner at Manchester City has become something of the journeyman in recent years – desperately trying to stick into a side like that mate at school who always laughed a bit too hard at his own joke, with a subtle tear escaping his eye as he urgently scanned the room for approval (close to home this one…).
Hart has been unconvincing to say the least, of the 19 appearances he made for Burnley last year, they lost 13, so for Burnley to let go of a consistent and reliable hand (pun intended) is mind boggling.