da bet esporte: Popular former midfield player Thomas Hitzlsperger could make a shock return for a second spell at Aston Villa according to both The Guardian and The Mirror, with Villa manager Alex McLeish failing to rule out the possibility.
da jogodeouro: The German, who was affectionately known as ‘Der Hammer’, spent five years at the club between 2000 and 2005 and enjoyed a successful relationship with the Villa faithful, which still remains. He originally left Villa Park to return to his homeland, playing for VfB Stuttgart and after a brief unsuccessful period at Lazio in Italy, he returned to England with West Ham. However, after West Ham’s relegation from the Premier League last year, Hitzlsperger finds himself without a club as a free agent.
Before any potential return however, manager McLeish has been told to cut Villa’s wage bill before bringing in any new faces: ‘Thomas’ name has been mentioned,’ said McLeish of the 29-year-old German international. ‘The midfield, in terms of experience, maybe we are a little bit lacking. But we won’t be bringing players in until we trade. We still have a very heavy wage bill and we’ve got to try and work to adjust that. There’s players at the club we respect totally, but they haven’t played much first-team football and we have to try to let them seek football somewhere else’.