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Aston Villa’s long running hunt for an experienced central defender looks to be over with the news that James Collins is training with them and is set to join the club.
Villa had been hoping to re-sign John Terry who had captained the side last season, but missed out on him when the former Chelsea captain flirted with a move to Spartak Moscow, before rejecting it for family reasons.
Now it looks like 35-year old Collins, who is a free agent, could be set to re-join the club who he played for between 2009 and 2012, making 108 appearances in all competitions.
Collins, who is without a club since being released by West Ham in June, had been training with Ipswich Town, but his trail period there was restricted by a leg injury, which prevented the East Anglian club making a move for him at the time. Now they appear to have missed their opportunity, with Ipswich manager Paul Hurst confirming “I’ve been made aware that he won’t be signing for Ipswich Town”.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.