Villa are now embarking on a critical phrase of close season of recruitment, with attacking reinforcements a priority given the lack of goals from our strikerforce last term.
Mbwana Samatta was certainly goal-shy, finding the net just twice, whilst Wesley struggled for form before suffering a season ending injury on New Years day. Both have incidentally found themselves linked with moves away from Villa Park, with Turkish sides Fenerbahce and Galatasaray interested in the Tanzanian international, whilst rumours concerning Lazio’s admiration for Wesley are re-appearing.
KEINAN DAVIS
With Villa in the market for a striker, there have been a raft of transfer rumours about potential acquisitions that Dean Smith could make in order to bolster Villa’s attacking options.
This inevitably brings into the spotlight players such as Davis, who whilst impressing in terms of his technical attributes, simply doesn’t look like he will deliver the amount of goal return if we are to kick on in the Premier League.
There are many positives to the former non-league player possesses which shouldn’t readily be overlooked though.
Davis is a very watchable player, with many aspects to his game that make one wonder if perhaps there might be a role for him across a long campaign in Villa’s squad. The 22 year old’s hold-up play is excellent and he often harnesses this talent to roll defenders, distributing neatly into the wide areas or interchanging with other team-mates as they advance further up the pitch.
For some, there is little to pick between both he and Samatta in terms of overall quality. Arguably, Davis does a great deal more to bring others into the game. Maybe it’s no more than a moot point.
The question, however, is whether Davis is the type of footballer that Aston Villa can truly rely upon to avoid a repeat last seasons relegation near miss? Does he have the required quality to fire Villa higher than 17th?
Goalscoring is where Davis’ worth begins to come in for genuine scrutiny; he hasn’t managed a league goal since September 2017. Just two senior goals in almost 60 senior appearances, albeit many from the bench, do set the narrative. Further, none of these goals came in the Premier League. A patchy injury record, rarely short term in nature, also blights the report card.
There were telling moments too during Villa’s end of season run in where a clinical edge in front of goal was desperately needed.
There was more than one occasion where despite doing all of the hard work, Davis failed to do the damage required at a time when the club’s survival needed a killer instinct.
Though Villa managed to secure safety on the final day, we are therefore expected to strengthen. It’s therefore reasonable to assume that Villa might be entertaining offers for Davis, with both Blackburn Rovers and Preston known admirers.
Tellingly Davies only find himself on a contract extension running until June 2021, with an estimated current market value in the region of £2 million.
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