Aston Villa engage in positive talks with Nottingham Forest over Keinan Davis – Telegraph
Nottingham Forest have held “cordial discussions” with Aston Villa over a deal for Keinan Davis this summer, according to The Telegraph.
The forward spent the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at the City Ground and could yet return there during the current window.
Those prospects are boosted by the fact that there is reportedly an “excellent” relationship between the two clubs at board level and between managers Steven Gerrard and Steve Cooper.
It is said however that an agreement is “not believed to be imminent” as the 24-year-old has gone on the Lions’ pre-season tour of Australia.
Davis played 22 times at Forest, scoring five times in the Championship and assisting twice more in 15 league games.
In 86 appearances for Villa he has only scored six times in total and seems unlikely to be a major factor in the manager’s plans.
Sense
If Cooper is pleased with how things went during the previous temporary move then making that arrangement permanent looks to be in the best interests of everyone involved.
The English striker admittedly hasn’t been afforded sustained playing time since the 2017/18 season in the Championship where according to Transfermarkt he received 1,499 league minutes.
Although he was significantly younger then he only scored twice and clearly hasn’t been viewed as a reliable source of goals since.
His time at Forest was therefore the most successful period of his senior career, and with Gerrard looking for much bigger star power up front it is probably sensible to let Davis move on even for just a small fee.
There is no benefit to the player or the club to have him buried down the pecking order with little prospect of making an impact.
Not all loan moves have the desired affect but this one seems to have set the situation up to give all parties a positive outcome.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton wants Carney Chuwuemeka to be given the contract he wants.