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McLeish to Follow Through Houllier’s Adam Interest

Villa are believed to be ready to put up a fight for long term target Charlie Adam under Alex McLeish and compete with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United for his signature.

Blackpool’s talismanic captain failed to save the Tangerines from relegation and is certain to leave the club in the summer with interest thought to be high in the Premier League. The likes of Tottenham could also rekindle their interest in the midfielder having failed with a late bid for the Scot on transfer deadline day in January. Despite his sides relegation to the Championship, Adam is still likely to command a fee of around £9m and McLeish is thought to be a keen admirer in his fellow countryman, as Houllier was before him.

The former manager had a pretty public falling out with Blackpool boss Ian Holloway over what the latter deemed to be a disrespectful transfer bid of around £4m. At the time Holloway maintained that the 25-year-old was worth at least £10m and it is thought that a similar figure could force their hand into releasing their prized asset who handed in a transfer request earlier in the year.

With the sale of Ashley Young thought to be close and the release of Nigel Reo-Coker at the end of the season, the new Villa manager will be keen to add to a young midfield and will be keen to bring in a more attacking presence from the centre of the park with Petrov and Makoun both representing more defensive options.

In 34 league appearances for Blackpool last season Adam netted a hugely impressive 12 goals and picked up a further 8 assists. The feisty middle man picked up 11 bookings in his first season in the Premier League and averaged a team high of 2.3 shots per game. His passing has been lauded by his manager and peers but his success rate is pretty low at 72% which is due in part to the fact that he attempts 7 long balls a game on average. The Scottish international completed an average of 2.06 key passes a game, another team high, but also put a shift in defensively, averaging 2.1 tackles per game and winning 56% of his aerial duels.

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