Speaking to the Express, former Aston Villa coach Paul Lambert has revealed a litany of high-profile stars that he attempted to sign during his time at Villa Park.
The Scottish manager endured a miserable three-year spell at the Midlands club before being dismissed in 2015 and replaced by Tim Sherwood.
The former Tottenham Hotspur coach was gone even quicker than Lambert, and was himself by Remi Garde earlier this season. However, the former Olympique Lyonnais coach has been unable to stop the rot, and in light of Villa’s 6-0 home defeat by Liverpool last weekend, the fallen domestic giants appear destined for the Championship.
How different things might have been!
In an exclusive interview with the Express, Lambert has given a tantalising glimpse of what might have been for the Villains, by rolling off a list of players he attempted to sign.
“I knew that the club needed big players to come in and we couldn’t go and get them,” the out-of-work manager began. “I remember speaking to (Romelu) Lukaku when I first went there.
“I spoke to (Wilfried) Bony in one window. I actually spoke to an agent from France about (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang now at Dortmund,” he continued. “He was at St Etienne and we made contact.”
Lambert did sign Belgian forward Christian Benteke, and while the injury-prone forward regularly did enough to keep Villa in the top flight, the club’s luck has run out following the striker’s summer exit for Liverpool.
SEE MORE:
Arsenal considering summer transfer swoop for Manchester United playmaker
Chelsea superstar linked to Real Madrid move admits he’d find it hard to refuse Euro giants
Rio Ferdinand slams Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder for lacking ‘balls’ after PSG blunder