In a rather quick and surprising move, Michael Bradley, son of USMNT coach Bob Bradley has made the jump to the EPL. Granted, it's only for the remainder of the season.
Having plied his trade for Heerenveen in the Dutch Erdivisie (1st division) and most recently in the Bundesliga for bottom dwellers Borussia Moenchengladbach, Bradley has been possibly the most consistent player they've had, having found the net some 26 times in 131 matches for the two clubs.
In bringing Bradley in, Aston Villa will bring a more "gritty" and forceful and young presence to the midfield, something that they've been missing. Bradley will score if allowed to go forward, but is a very consistent player in a more defensive roll and is technically more sound there.
The loan move will end this summer and leave Bradley with one year remaining on his contract during the usually busy transfer period of summer.
For you Aston Villa fans, here is a little of what to expect from him (and thankfully, it isn't a card every match as he was prone to get early in his career):
Back in November, Blackpool manager Ian Holloway admitted that to maintain his team's fitness during a busy week that included three EPL league matches, he would dress an almost completely different team than had played in the previous league match.
Let me break that down. Aside from one field player, the entire starting team for Blackpool changed from a league match earlier in the week against Everton to the following match against Aston Villa.
Final regulation ends 2-2 on some good competition. Shootout ensues and South Korea fails to convert a single penalty in shootout, thus dropping, 5-2. Japan moves on to face Australia in the finals.
It wasn't pretty... Case in point, watch goal number 6:
Australia moves on to face Japan, winning 6-0 over Uzbekistan.
And before you really go feeling bad for Uzbekistan, take a moment to consider Australia's former Oceania opponent, American Samoa. In 2002, Australia beat them senseless, 31-0.