Aston Villa v Stoke City EFL Cup 01/10/2020. Keinan Davis of Aston villa 39 during the EFL Cup match between Aston Villa and Stoke City at Villa Park, Birmingham, England on 1 October 2020. Birmingham Villa Park West Midlands England Editorial use only DataCo restrictions apply See www.football-dataco.com PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxUK , Copyright: xMickxHaynesx PSI-10710-0102
According to Football Insider (h/t Birmingham Live), Aston Villa manager Dean Smith is open to the idea of letting Keinan Davis leave the club. With Wesley nearing a return to fitness, it would give Smith options in the forward area. However, Davis would only be allowed to leave on a temporary deal.
Keinan Davis started his footballing education at Stevenage before joining the youth ranks of non-league outfit Biggleswade Town following his release from his hometown club. The 22-year-old was eventually offered a professional contract by Aston Villa towards the end of 2015 after impressing as a trialist.
The highly-rated striker made his professional debut for the Villans against Tottenham in an FA Cup tie back in January 2017. Davis has since made 72 appearances for the Midlands club in all competitions, registering just 5 goals and 6 assists in the process.
The youngster missed the first half of the previous campaign due to a series of hamstring injuries before returning to action and playing a bit-part role in the Premier League. Davis scored once in 21 appearances across all competitions last term, starting four league fixtures for Dean Smith’s side.
Aston Villa went ahead and broke the club record to sign Ollie Watkins for £28m from Brentford. He has repaid that with a blistering start to the season scoring 6 times already in the league. This led to Davis playing a backup role and featuring in sporadic games.
Wesley, who has been out for close to a year now with injury, is slowly nearing fitness. That would spell even more bad news for Davis. Watkins has very likely cemented his place as the club’s first-choice striker and there’s a very good chance that Wesley will be his backup.
It would seem that the only option for Davis at that point would be to leave the club even if it’s on a temporary basis. At just 22 years of age, he is in his formative and developmental years as a forward. He needs a regular flow of games, something he is unlikely to get at Villa once Wesley is fully fit. Hence, Dean Smith is right to allow Davis to leave on loan.