Yannick Djalo joining Villa on trial

Alex McLeish today revealed that Portugal forward Yannick Djalo will join Villa on trial but insisted it is “premature” to talk of a permanent deal for the player.

Djalo had previously caught the eye of McLeish during a Champions League game for Sporting Lisbon and the Villa boss decided to take a closer look at the player although he had hoped to keep the trial under wraps.

“He’s not arrived yet but we are going to look at him on trial. Talk of signing him is very premature and I didn’t really want it to be anybody’s business but I know the lad put it on Facebook himself so what chance have you got?” said McLeish.

“We will quietly look at people when we have an opportunity and this is an opportunity to have a look at him. There are others out there and we want to do things carefully and prudently and we’ll continue to do so.

“I can’t really tell you anything about him; I don’t really want to divulge anything about him right now. Look him up on Google!”

There are also some added complications over whether Nice or Sporting Lisbon own the registration for25-year-old forward although Portuguese players union chief Joaquim Evangelista is attempting to resolve the problem.

McLeish added: “I don’t know exactly what is situation is because I don’t get involved in the administration side of things but I get some players get recommended by my scouts and then they tell me ‘look we can have a look at this guy’.

“I think it is better to have a look at them in person than watch videos. It’s obviously great to see them in a game in terms of the bigger picture but when you get a look at them in close quarters it can help also.

“It’s not often possible to have the player in to have a look at him. Sometimes it’s a two-way street with the player having a look as well. In this case we’re having a look at Djalo and see what transpires.”