Ollie Watkins has scored eight goals and supplied two assists in 17 games for Aston Villa since joining on a five-year deal from Brentford in September, but Dean Smith doesn’t have a backup option in case of injury.
Wesley Moraes is still recovering from injury while Keinan Davis has been short of form and playing time, so Villa may need to scour the transfer market for an upgrade on the latter. Smith has said as much too.
Davis has made 75 appearances in all competitions since joining from Biggleswade Town in 2015, scoring five goals with six assists, but he hasn’t found the back of the net in the Premier League since Villa were promoted from the Championship in 2019.
The 22-year-old is without a goal in 21 league games and has only managed five shots on target for his troubles. Davis is all Smith has to call upon from the bench if Villa are searching for a goal, but he’s proven not to be reliable with only one goal in all competitions since August 2019.
Watkins has played every minute of every league game this season while Davis has only amassed 41 minutes of top-flight football, so it’s clear his manager doesn’t trust him.
Divock Origi, Odsonne Edouard and Josh King have been linked with a move to Villa, but it remains to be seen which striker the Midlands outfit end up signing.
