Earlier in the week, Jordan Ayew became the third player to arrive at Aston Villa from Ligue 1 this summer as Tim Sherwood continues to assemble his new-look side. The Ghanaian signs on in a five-deal deal for a reported fee of £8.5m, as Sherwood splashes the cash following the departure of Christian Benteke to Liverpool.
Speaking to the club website, the 23-year-old admitted that Sherwood needed little time to convince him of making the move to the midlands:
“When I spoke to the coach I knew this was the place for me. I didn’t think twice. I knew he was the right coach for me. He has so much enthusiasm and determination for the game of football. It took 10 seconds to work out he was the right coach for me and Aston Villa was the right team for me.”
THE HISTORY
Son of African legend Abedi Pelle (and brother of Swansea’s Andre), Ayew joined fourth-tier Lyon-Duchère’s youth academy at the age of nine and left six years later for the Marseille set-up. His first professional appearance came in December 2009 as a substitute against FC Lorient in which he scored the equaliser of a 2-1 victory.
The Ghanaian went on to feature 147 times for “Les Olympiens”, including 21 Champions League appearances, and managed 22 goals and 16 assists in his time there. However, he never managed to cement a starting role and was often introduced into matches from the bench.
During the opening of the 2013-14 campaign, Ayew only notched once in 16 appearances and was consequently loaned out to FC Sochaux in January 2014 to rediscover his goal scoring touch. This deal worked well for the forward and, after a slow start, he produced five goals and two assists in his final ten outings.
After completing his loan, Ayew decided to move to pastures new in July 2014 and signed for FC Lorient in a deal worth €4 million. This proved to be the making of his career as he went on to produce 12 goals and five assists in 31 league appearances – his best ever goals per game ratio.
To date, Ayew has turned out 28 times for the Ghana national side. He broke into the first team ahead of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and started all fixtures in that competition, in which Ghana finished fourth. The striker made only one start during the 2014 World Cup as his country failed to get out of the group stages. The pinnacle of Ayew’s international career came this year, when he picked up an African Cup of Nations runners-up medal after losing to the Ivory Coast on penalties in the final.
THE PROSPECTS
The departure of Benteke has left a gaping hole up top in the Aston Villa line-up and Ayew is expected to immediately nail down a starting berth in the season ahead. Certainly, the versatile Ghana international is no like-for-like replacement for Benteke, though; his pace and movement offer options on both flanks, though he could tuck in centrally behind a more robust striker.
Although the five-foot-11-inches Ayew could also be fielded up top, he’s far less suited to a lone forward role. Given that the new boy lacks the physicality to lead the line on his own, it’s perhaps no surprise to see Sherwood linked with a move for Emmanuel Adebayor as the club’s new target man.
To an extent, much depends on Sherwood’s tactical approach for the season ahead. The Villa boss has rolled out 4-3-3-, 4-4-1-1 and 4-4-2 formations over the summer, with Libor Kozak also staking a claim for inclusion with three goals to his name so far. A lone striker system could well see Ayew moved onto the flank, leaving the likes of Jack Grealish, Scott Sinclair, Charles N’Zogbia and Gabby Agbonlahor to battle it out for the other wing berth.
It’s worth noting, though, that Ayew excelled at Lorient as part of a two-man frontline last year and offers far greater threat through the middle. The Ghanaian managed 48 of his 81 shots on target last term – a highly impressive shot accuracy of 59% was higher than any regular forward in the top-flight.
Furthermore, his pace and tight dribbling often draws fouls which could see him pick up assists for any penalties/free-kicks that Villa convert. On the downside, though, Ayew has picked up 33 yellow and three red cards during his professional career and will need to curb his temperament in the Premier League.
Ultimately, Sherwood’s rebuilding work will be key to how we assess his side. Only Sunderland (304) created less goal-scoring chances than Aston Villa’s 306 last season and the departures of Fabian Delph, Tom Cleverley and Benteke, who contributed a combined 96 of those, will be detrimental.
Priced at just 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, Ayew has a favourable opening six Gameweeks (bou, cpl, SUN, lei, WBA) that could see him stake a claim for inclusion in Fantasy managers’ plans – all the more so if he can grab spot-kick duties as a result of Benteke’s departure. As we saw last season, Sherwood’s sides will certainly go on the offensive and, providing he can cement a spot through the centre, Ayew may well emerge as a decent value option for our three-man frontlines.
