Aston Villa aren’t short of strikers with Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings, Cameron Archer and Keinan Davis, but Archer may not command a starting place next season as he’s still developing out on loan while Davis might be offloaded permanently after falling down the pecking order.
Ings hasn’t had the best debut campaign at Villa Park either, so the Claret and Blues may need another centre-forward to boost their hopes of a top-six finish next season. Luis Suarez has been linked with a move as he’s expected to leave Atletico Madrid this summer, but Kevin Phillips is against it.
He told Football Insider: “The suggestion of bringing Suarez back to the Premier League with Aston Villa, I’m not so sure, being honest. I don’t think he’d be the same player he was. The Premier League’s moved on. I’d rather keep Ings and Ollie Watkins than look to bring a Suarez in, if I’m being honest.”
Suarez has scored 11 goals with three assists in 37 games for Atleti this season but is out of contract in the coming months. The 35-year-old is believed to have chosen his next club when he departs the Rojiblancos, so he’s not staying in Madrid and may not even be available for Villa.
But with Steven Gerrard using his Liverpool connections to get former teammate Phillipe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona in January, reports suggest he might be able to do the same with Suarez. Phillips would rather stick with Ings and Watkins, however.
In other news, Kevin Phillips would axe ‘fantastic’ Danny Ings over Ollie Watkins
