Aston Villa could be on the verge of making another mistake in the summer transfer market, a year on from opting against a move for Neal Maupay...

What's the word?

According to Sky Sports, the Midlands outfit are becoming 'increasingly frustrated' at the lack of progress in their talks to sign Brentford talisman Ollie Watkins.

It's claimed that Dean Smith's top priority is finding another striker before the start of the new campaign and his former Bees star is a perfect fit for Villa Park.

There is a belief from the club's hierarchy that they fear that are involved in a bidding auction and are reluctant to get involved in such matters - it's thought that Brentford want £25m for his services.

Maupay 2.0

Oh, how this feels ever so similar to Maupay last year - another player that Smith knows well and would have been a far greater option than Wesley or Mbwana Samatta.

The Villa boss revealed that his former club were asking for too much money for the French forward yet he only joined Brighton for an initial £16m, and that's proven to be a smart decision after his ten goals and three assists in the Premier League.

Smith simply can't afford to not sign Watkins this summer as Villa desperately crave a goalscorer and who better than a player that the boss already worked with and even brought to Griffin Park back in 2017.

The 49-year-old once claimed the young forward looked "a hell of a player" with his ability to play in several positions whilst Trevor Sinclair dubbed him "lethal" amid comparisons to Jermain Defoe.

Watkins bagged a whopping 26 goals in the Championship this season playing primarily as a striker and averaged 2.7 shots, 1.5 key passes and 0.8 dribbles per appearance, via WhoScored.

That is absolutely worth £25m, so Smith should stop messing around and instead look to help his Villa side avoid another worrying relegation scrap.

He missed out on Maupay and paid for it severely, do not miss out on Watkins.

AND in other news, Aston Villa can land right-back upgrade for just £15m...