Steven Gerrard was expected to sign a new striker this summer as Danny Ings had an uncertain future at Aston Villa after a difficult debut season, but Kevin Campbell doesn’t believe they’re targeting the right players.
The Midlands outfit have been linked with Rangers’ 16-year-old centre-forward Rory Wilson and West Ham United’s 18-year-old striker Sonny Perkins, but Campbell says neither player is in a position to deputise for Ings or Ollie Watkins if injury struck.
He told Football Insider: “I don’t think that’s the route to go down. If you look at Ings and Watkins – you want someone to be ready to step in if there’s an injury.
“Young players around this age, 16 to 18 – they aren’t Premier League ready. Maybe in the long-term, they will come good – but all it needs is one or two injuries and they could struggle.
“They need to hit the ground running this season, that’s for sure. If they’re going to play two up front then they definitely need another recognised striker.”
Wilson and Perkins are talented players but aren’t fully developed yet, so Gerrard would be gambling on their potential long before they’re ready for the step-up.
The Villa manager has Cameron Archer who’s proven himself more than Wilson and Perkins too, scoring seven goals in 20 games while on loan at Preston North End, so does he deserve an opportunity over the aforementioned duo?
Campbell is right to warn Gerrard about planning too much for the future over fixing current issues in the squad, because Ings’ seven goals in 30 Premier League games this campaign won’t get Villa into the top-seven next season.
In other news, Frank McAvennie says Aston Villa signing Luis Suarez this summer ‘would be wonderful’
