Shane Long has emerged as a loan target for promotion hopefuls Aston Villa, with manager Steve Bruce keen to add goals to his squad.
According to the Express and Star, Bruce wants to add another striker to his ranks before the loan deadline in 11 days, but he realises that he must be patient if he is going to be able to land the players that he wants.
It is no secret that Bruce would love to sign Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Yannick Bolasie, but he is also reportedly interested in bringing Long to Villa Park.
Long has dropped down the pecking order at Southampton thanks to the arrival of Danny Ings this summer.
The Republic of Ireland international has struggled for goals in the Premier League, but his pace and great work-rate could cause Championship defences a lot of problems.
The Villa boss is now being tasked with the job of convincing his targets to drop into the Championship and give up top-flight football.
When asked about the issue, Bruce replied:
It’s always difficult when we are trying to do what we are doing, in terms of loan signings. We have have one or two things on the go. We are quietly confident we’ll get one or two over the line.
They have to be of the right quality and they have to be able to get into our team rather than just adding numbers. I’d rather wait for the quality. If we don’t get them then so be it.
