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The Nottingham Forest full-back has joined on a five-year deal.
Words: VillaMarkPGH | @villamarkpgh
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Aston Villa have announced the signing of Matty Cash from Nottingham Forest.
The deal is supposedly worth £14,000,000, with the fee rising to 16 million pounds with add-ons. He signs on a five-year deal.
This is Aston Villa’s first foray into the current transfer window, barring younger talent that has come through the doors. Cash will undoubtedly be in direct competition for Frederic Guilbert and Ahmed Elmohamady at the right-back position.
Villa supporters far and wide have been crying out for a little more depth in defence after the defensive shortcomings of last season and all signs point towards Cash’s ability to help in that area of the pitch. Cash made five assists and scored three goals in his final season at Forest before making the switch to Villa, but there is more to the player than meets the eye.
The 23-year-old right-back was on the pitch for 4,134 minutes for Forest this most recent season and looked about as promising as you’d like if you’re an Aston Villa supporter. Cash is known for his defensive-first attitude and his statistics last season for Forest definitely prove that with 315 interceptions and 161 clearances.
While Frederic Guilbert has shown his ability to get forward whenever possible, Cash represents a somewhat similar style of play; erratic in going forward and hard and crunching going back.
This isn’t to say that Cash isn’t mobile; he loves to cut inside when the opportunity presents itself while on the ball. Cash made 137 accurate crosses across all competitions for Forest last season, at a 30.7% success rate. This is good news for the strikers of Aston Villa, whoever they may be by the opening day of the ’20-’21 campaign.
There is still room to grow and develop for Cash, but he comes off as a very sound player and a great addition to Aston Villa’s defensive ranks.
Cash said on his personal social media:
“I’m absolutely buzzing to have signed a five-year deal with Aston Villa”
“Something I’ve always dreamed of since I was a young boy to play in the premier league, it really is a dream come true”
“I can’t wait to meet up with the squad, meet everyone around the club and the supporters!”
