Didn't really do well at Bournemouth due to injuries and Howe having a lack of faith in new signings.
Not quite how it worked. He was signed for us as a left back alternate to Daniels but did his major injury in his first game (the same match that also ruined Gradel's knee...). Since then he's been seen as a centre back. Maybe that was always the long-term plan and they decided to accelerate it when the injury happened or whether something in his recovery from the injury meant there was a recommendation to try and reduce all the twisting you would get as a full back we don't know but he never once played again at left back for us again, even when we were desperate for anyone through injuries and suspension. Therefore, I'm inclined to believe the change was somehow related to his injury and he can't be viewed as a viable left back again.
After the injury he had to wait for his chance and when he came in he looked excellent at CB in a short run of games. Truly excellent. However, that was brought to a halt by a ban for the Zlatan incident and that took us through to the end of that season.
That summer we signed Ake and I believe it was an opportunistic move rather than a planned one. Sometimes when a quality player becomes available you just have to go for him even if his position isn't your priority at that moment in time. Especially when you're lower down the pecking order like us. Whilst Ake is versatile, having played left back the previous season on loan for Watford and declaring himself he was best as a defensive CM, it became immediately apparent his best role was as a CB. Specifically on the left side of the CB pairing, exactly where Mings would play.
That season Ake won our player of the season and so Mings didn't get a look in, despite being one of the few players to come out with credit from our dire FA Cup game. Since then that has been his problem. Ake has consistently been one of our best two players and he's playing exactly where Mings should be playing. It never seemed a realistic option to pair them since it would leave us too unbalanced at CB. Finally last season there was a period when it looked like he would get a run of a few games but he picked up a niggle which seemed to cause some frustration at the club.
After that there were a few on the line social media posts from him towards the end of last calendar year and it was clear he wasn't happy. Which is fair enough as he'd been fit for a while now, unfortunately timed niggle aside, and hadn't got a look-in because his place in the team was blocked by a better player. So he went to Villa on loan and most people assumed it was with a view to proving to people he was fit so he could get a permanent move somewhere in the summer. There was this image that he was a sicknote when in reality after the big injury it was mainly that he just couldn't get into the team because of Ake.
The general opinion of the fans at AFCB is that he's a really good player. Considering the number of appearances he made at the club I think we've done well to get that fee for him but judging the quality we saw from him when he did actually play I think Villa have a PL defender on their hands and so it isn't really overpaying considering the prices out there in the market. He'll have bad games but then he isn't Baresi so you have to accept that. He'll have enough good ones to not be the weak point that would stop Villa from staying up.
Sometimes a player is good enough for your club but somehow seems to miss out through an unfortunate series of coincidences. That was Mings with us. If he was still with us and Ake was sold tomorrow I'd have been perfectly happy with him as the replacement. Put it like that.
