According to Sky Sports, Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Derby County have all held talks with Southampton about signing striker Sam Gallagher on loan.
Despite signing a new four-year deal in July, Sky Sports says that Mauricio Pellegrino is willing to send the 21-year-old out on a temporary basis after he failed to make the squad for their opening day goalless draw against Swansea City at St Mary’s last weekend.
The report adds that the Championship trio are all keen to bring the centre-forward in after he impressed during a similar spell with Blackburn Rovers last term, despite their campaign ending with relegation to League One.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce will be keen to strengthen his squad before the window slams shut at the end of this month following a disappointing start to the season, in which they have taken just one point and scored two goals in their opening three league fixtures as they look to secure a Premier League return.
Here are three reasons Villa must win the race to sign Gallagher…
They need a striker
One of Villa’s main problems last season when they could only secure a 13th-placed finish in their first season in the Championship was their lack of goals – they scored just 47 in their 46 league matches.
Jonathan Kodjia scored 19 of those but after picking up an ankle injury, he has missed the start of the new campaign and the side has looked toothless in his absence.
While they have the likes of Gabby Agbonlahor and Scott Hogan to step in Villa have struggled in front of goal and there is no doubt that Gallagher, who has a physical presence about him as he stands at 6’4” tall, would give them something different up top.
Goals
Gallagher has proved the impact he can have at this level after scoring 11 goals in 43 Championship appearances for a struggling Blackburn side last season.
The 21-year-old scored a range of goals and he is certainly not only strong in the air when it comes to finishing chances.
With the likes of Albert Adomah, Henri Lansbury and Conor Hourihane around him you would expect the Saints striker to get even more chances than he did with Rovers if he did join Villa on loan, and he should be capable of having an even more prolific campaign than last time out.
Point to prove
Having signed a new four-year deal with Southampton earlier this summer, the south coast outfit obviously feel that he has a big part to play in the future.
Wherever Gallagher ends up on loan, he will have a point to prove to current boss Mauricio Pellegrino that he can score regularly at Championship level for a big club like Aston Villa to eventually become a regular fixture in the Saints first team.
That would only benefit Steve Bruce’s side as they would get a motivated player that will want to find the net as many times as possible, as well as adding extra competition and pushing the likes of Kodjia and Hogan even further.
Do you agree, Villa fans? Let us know below.