Aston Villa defender Matty Cash has opened up on transfer interest and revealed his plans for the future.
Matty Cash has expressed his desire to stay with Aston Villa for several more years despite attracting interest from former club Nottingham Forest during the recent transfer window.
It was unknown at the time whether or not Cash was keen on making a romantic return to the City Ground, but he’s now assured he’s happy at Villa. The Poland international, recently the scorer of a stunner against the Netherlands, has locked down the right-back spot under Unai Emery and is very content with his current club.
Matty Cash responds to Nottingham Forest interest
As much as Cash is flattered by Forest keeping tabs on his situation, the right-back doesn’t want to go anywhere any time soon. “I’ve loved my time at Villa for the last five years and hopefully I can have many years still at the club,” Cash admitted to the PA news agency.
“I love the club, I’m really settled in Birmingham. If you’ve got clubs coming in for you, it’s obviously a good sign. But I love playing for Villa. I love playing under Unai and, as I said, hopefully for many years I can keep doing that.”
Cash has now racked up 14,241 minutes played in 183 appearances for Villa, scoring 10 goals and providing 12 assists. The 28-year-old has played for the Villans more than any other club, with Forest second on that list.
Cash ‘frustrated’ by Villa’s PSR troubles
A recurring theme of Villa’s summer was financial restriction. Whether it be attempting to balance the books for the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) or making efforts to comply with UEFA’s squad cost rules (SCR), Villa had very little freedom in the transfer market.
With the Premier League as relentless and competitive as it has become, even small disadvantages compared to rivals can have a huge effect. Villa being unable to spend freely when others have spent tens or hundreds of millions gives Emery and his side a mountain to climb from the very beginning.
Although the financial restrictions cannot be used as an excuse for the tricky start to the new season, they’ve certainly not helped. Villa have drawn one and lost two of their opening three Premier League games, failing to score a single goal. Bringing in more new players earlier in the window wouldn’t necessarily have changed that, but it would’ve been nice to at least have the opportunity.
Cash is one of several players to have spoken publicly about the issue, revealing the effect its had on the squad. “The PSR, it’s frustrating because obviously the owners have got money that they want to spend and do what’s best for the club, and obviously we’ve got limits and we can’t do it,” Cash said.
“But we’ve had good success with the squad that we’ve got now. So, as players, you can’t really get too drawn into it. You just have to focus on your job. We’re the ones that are out there on the pitch. Our jobs as players, we get paid to perform on the pitch, and that’s all we can do.
“We’ve got a good, strong group. We’re very close together as a team. So it’s important to have that. We’ve done well because I think the squad has togetherness and in tough times like this obviously you need to stick together. You need to be a group and a squad, and I think we’ve done that. The rules are the rules — you have to just get on with it and try and do well.”
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