Ayew Brothers
As the Ayew brothers go head-to-head in England for the first time this weekend the general consensus is that Aston Villa plumped for the wrong one.
Swansea star Andre, 25, has bagged four goals in nine Premier League games this season while Jordan, 24, is yet to get off the mark and has started just four times for his new club.
Villa had looked at both players in the 12 months leading up to the summer when they splashed out £8.5million on the younger of the two.
Landing Andre was much tougher due to the interest from other clubs across the globe. Swansea had to fork out a massive signing-on fee and make him their highest-paid player just to convince him to join.
When Villa considered the former Marseille man back in January they decided that Carles Gil would represent better value for money and opted for the Spaniard instead.
Swansea’s bold and expensive move seems to be paying dividends, though.
His blistering start to life in England helped the South Wales club get off to a flying start although since his goals have dried up – he’s scored just once in the last five games – Garry Monk’s men have struggled to sustain their early charge.
Against Stoke City on Monday he couldn’t make an impact in an unusual No.10 position and the likelihood is that he will return to a wide role at Villa Park on Saturday.
While Jordan is yet to hit it off in the Midlands, he is now playing with a smile on his face thanks to his recent contributions.
There are signs that the Ghanaian international could start to make an impact if he gets a lucky break in front of goal.
Having travelled with his country to Canada during the international break, Ayew lasted just 68 minutes of the Chelsea defeat before he was replaced.
“I had to take him off because he would have died of exhaustion,” said Sherwood after the game.
It wasn’t surprising that his international team-mate Baba Rahman struggled for the champions, too.
At least Ayew looked positive and confident when going forward. He created Villa’s best chance of the game when he set up Rudy Gestede who fired over.
And against Blues in the Capital One Cup it was his half-time introduction that helped swing the game in Villa’s favour.
A goal is all that’s really lacking now. And although he wasn’t earmarked as a direct replacement for Christian Benteke, the onus is on him and the other forwards to offset the loss of the big Belgian.
