Aston Villa
In: Clint Dempsey, Charlie Austin, Aleksandar Tonev.
Out: Darren Bent, Shay Given, Stephen Ireland.
Clint Dempsey nearly joined Aston Villa from Fulham last summer, but moved to Tottenham instead after a highly productive season at Craven Cottage. However, he has not lived up to expectation at White Hart Lane and could be one of many players to leave in a major summer clear-out. Villa could do with more quality in midfield, and Dempsey may be able to help replace the goals of star striker Christian Benteke if he leaves. Prolific Burnley striker Charlie Austin could also be a good option in this respect, and has been linked as one of Paul Lambert’s transfer targets this summer along with Lech Poznan winger Aleksandar Tonev. These new attacking options would be great alongside Benteke and Andreas Weimann, though also useful replacements if the pair leave.
Darren Bent will almost certainly be on the way out after a season on the bench at Villa Park, and Shay Given and Stephen Ireland would be good candidates to follow. These big names have not shown themselves to be good enough this season, and will likely be picked up by some of the newly-promoted sides.