With Jonathan Kodjia looking likely to be out of action for several weeks between January and February when he heads off to Gabon to represent the Ivory Coast at the 2017 African Cup of Nations, talk has already turned to who could temporarily replace him in the team.
Jordan Rhodes and Abel Hernandez have been the most frequently mentioned names so far, but any such mentions ignore perhaps the best fit for Villa at this time.
Step forward; Rushian Hepburn-Murphy.
The second-youngest player in the club’s history and the youngest to make an appearance for the club in the Premier League era, so far Hepburn-Murphy has not featured as often this season as some fans expected, with the player making just one appearance, a four-minute spell from the subs bench in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle.
This seems like a terrible waste of a player who scored two goals in two games in Villa’s unsuccessful Under-21’s Play-off campaign last year, and who has scored four goals in seven appearances in the Under 23 Division 2 so far this season.
At 6’1” and 12st 8lbs, the young English striker has the right height and weight for a Championship striker. Hepburn-Murphy looks, on paper, a good fit to temporarily replace the Ivorian.
Moreover, given that Villa already have Rudy Gestede, Jordan Ayew, Ross McCormack and the recently recalled rebel Gabriel Agbonlahor as experienced strikers to call upon, the need for another striker in Jordan Rhodes or Abel Hernandez to push Hepburn-Murphy further down the Villa Park pecking order is unnecessary.
The need to bring this young talent into the first team picture at B6 is becoming more apparent with Rangers and Watford hovering for the youngster.
Should Hepburn-Murphy see another centre-forward arrive at Villa Park, it may well push him out of the exit door in search of more first team opportunities elsewhere, and this should alarm all of us Villans.
Having seen stars for the Villa academy, like Gary Cahill, Marc Albrighton and more recently Ciaran Clark, leave for greener pastures elsewhere and start to live up to their true potential, there is a real risk the same could happen with Hepburn-Murphy.
Should we decide to sign up another experienced centre-forward to fill our already overloaded striker pool Villa could well regret it.
So come on Steve, give Rushian a chance, it’s not like we haven’t got enough strikers already!
