Dean Smith plays down Aston Villa comparisons with Fulham
Thursday 8 August 2019 15:38, UK
Dean Smith has played down comparisons with Fulham after Aston Villa signed 12 players in the summer transfer window.
Villa have spent more than £130m and were considering a move for RB Leipzig striker Jean-Kevin Augustin, Sky Sports News understands, although boss Smith insists they will not be bringing in anyone else on Deadline Day.
Tom Heaton (Burnley), Marvelous Nakamba and Wesley (Club Brugge), Douglas Luiz (Manchester City), Trezeguet (Kasimpasa), Matt Targett (Southampton), Jota (Birmingham), Anwar El Ghazi (Lille), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Kortney Hause (Wolves), Tyrone Mings (Bournemouth) and Bjorn Engels (Stade Reims) all arrived at Villa Park this summer.
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Smith says that Villa were able to complete their "Plan A" for summer transfers after securing Premier League promotion by winning the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
He was also coy on comparisons with Fulham, who were relegated last season after spending over £100m on players, following promotion in the previous campaign.
"We won't be [signing any players on Deadline Day]," Smith said. "We're pretty much done, we're happy with the signings we have brought in and happy with the recruitment policy that we adopted.
"It was well documented that we had a Plan A and Plan B going into Wembley and we've been able to go ahead with Plan A now we are a Premier League team.
"With nine players released and six players finishing their loans, it meant that 15 players had to be replaced.
"We've done very well with the recruitment and we're very fortunate to have the owners we have with the money they put forward.
"There is always going to be comparisons with other clubs (Fulham) but we can only concentrate on ourselves."
Villa make their top-flight return when they travel to Tottenham on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Premier League, and will be further boosted by midfielder John McGinn signing a new five-year deal with the club.
"He's been very important to the football club and was integral to our promotion last season," Smith said of McGinn.
"We want to keep the best players at Aston Villa and we feel that he is one of them, along with Jack Grealish, who has signed a long-term contract as well.
"I feel we can develop John even further and he's really looking forward to the Premier League season."
Follow Deadline Day on Sky Sports
It's Transfer Deadline Day for the Premier League and Championship on Thursday August 8 and Sky Sports will be bringing you all the latest news on who your club is signing.
Start your day with Deadline Day Breakfast (6am) ahead of a special Good Morning Transfers show (9am), with Deadline Day - The Countdown (4pm) taking you to the 5pm deadline.
The Transfer Show - Deadline Day at 6pm will analyse the big moves before Deadline Day at Ten rounds up all the transfer headlines.
As well as tuning into Sky Sports News, don't miss a thing with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.
