Aston Villa have been dealt a potential blow in their bid to bring Todd Cantwell to Villa Park.

What's the talk?

That's according to a recent report by Birmingham Live, who claim that Dean Smith's appointment as Norwich City's new manager could prove to be a stumbling block in Aston Villa's potential move for the 23-year-old, who was heavily linked with a £40m move to Villa Park in the summer.

However, the latest report suggests that, following Smith's arrival at Carrow Road, the winger could go on to become a central part of the 50-year-old's plans with the Canaries, something that would appear to all but rule out a January move for the England U21 international.

Huge blow

While it is true that Cantwell has not exactly been in the best of form for Norwich so far this season, having not been included in any of the club's last six Premier League matchday squads, the 23-year-old has nevertheless proven in previous campaigns that he would make an excellent addition to Steven Gerrard's first-team squad.

Indeed, over his 33 Championship appearances last term, the £19.8m-rated man scored six goals, registered six assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, returns which saw the youngster earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.17.

Furthermore, the £25k-per-week winger also bagged six goals and registered two assists over his 37 Premier League appearances for City back in 2019/20, demonstrating that the youngster undoubtedly has the ability to perform at the highest level that English football has to offer.

And, the potential signing of Cantwell is also something that would appear to go down very well with Villa fans, as, in a poll ran on Football FanCast, the majority of supporters stated their belief that NSWE should do all they can to get a deal over the line for the 23-year-old.

As such, should Smith indeed be unwilling to part with Cantwell in January, it would not only come as a huge blow to Steven Gerrard, it would also look to leave fans of the club rather gutted.

In other news: Lange could land Gerrard's next Kent at AVFC with "absolutely phenomenal" £80k-p/w gem