According to the Express and Star, Wolverhampton Wanderers are ‘in talks’ with Aston Villa ‘to sign’ Matija Sarkic this summer. The 22-year-old is out of contract at the end of the month and Wolves are ‘keen on landing’ his signature to strengthen their options between the sticks.
Nuno Espirito Santo has Rui Patricio and John Ruddy as his first and second-choice goalkeepers. Andreas Sondergaard looks set to be next in line as he’s training with the first-team. Express and Star note that Will Norris is still on the books, but he’s had a torrid loan spell at Ipswich Town and may be offloaded.
Sarkic joined Villa from RSC Anderlecht in 2015 and has gone on to make 54 appearances for the U23s. He’s yet to make a first-team appearance for the Villans and has embarked upon loan moves away to get competitive football – Wigan Athletic (August 31, 2017 – January 7, 2018), Stratford Town (December 20, 2018 – January 13, 2019), Havant & Waterlooville (May 26, 2019 – March 29, 2019), Livingston (July 1, 2019 – January 3, 2020).
The Montenegro goalkeeper finds himself behind Pepe Reina, Tom Heaton, Orjan Nyland and Jed Steer in the pecking order at Villa Park, so a departure looks on the cards. The Black and Gold recruitment team still see his potential, however, so Sarkic could make the short trip from Birmingham to Wolverhampton in the coming weeks.
At least he will be coming to a better club.