Either side of Aston Villa’s promotion from the Championship to the Premier League, they launched multiple raids on Brentford. First, they poached their manager from the Bees, appointing Dean Smith, the man who would steer them back to the top flight, in 2018.
In 2019, he reunited with Ezri Konsa at Villa Park after paying £12m for the centre-back and then, a year on, he sanctioned what was at the time a club-record £28m deal for striker Ollie Watkins.
There haven’t been any major dealings between the clubs since, but Villa have showed some interest in another striker at the Gtech Community Stadium, this time Ivan Toney. It was reported last May that Toney was on Unai Emery’s radar, and that the Midlands outfit were plotting a move. It didn’t materialise last summer, but now pundit Stan Collymore has pleaded with the club to revisit the deal.
Collymore offers to “drive” Toney to Villa
Speaking to CaughtOffside, Collymore told Villa to sign Toney on the basis that they need another more reliable option at the head of the team, with Jhon Duran facing multiple weeks out because of a hamstring injury.
He said: “I would love to see Aston Villa join the party. I know Toney’s preference may be to stay in London, but if he fancies a change of scenery, I would happily drive him to the Midlands myself.
“Unai Emery is one injury away from having no recognised striker. If Ollie Watkins is sidelined, that only leaves Jhon Duran, and he’s injured himself at the moment, so it’s obvious Villa needs a new forward — Toney would be a superb addition.”
Toney deal ultimately makes little sense for Villa
Toney has proven himself to be a top-class striker, having reached the 20-goal mark in the league last season. There are no signs of him struggling to get back into form after an eight-month betting ban, either – heading into Saturday’s trip to Wolves, he’d scored two in three following his return.
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But just because a player is elite, it doesn’t always make them the right fit for a particular team. In Watkins, Villa have one of the outstanding centre-forwards in not only England, but European football this season. In addition to his 11 goals, he’s also notched a league-high ten assists, ranking second in the division for overall goal involvements.
Stat (per 90) | Ollie Watkins (23/24) | Ivan Toney 22/23 |
|---|---|---|
Non-penalty goals | 0.49 | 0.43 |
Assists | 0.44 | 0.12 |
Goal contributions | 0.93 | 0.73 |
Non-penalty xG | 0.47 | 0.5 |
Yes, signing both players would offer Emery some peerless depth, but the reality is that both of these players are far too good to accept sitting on the bench. While the Spaniard has used a 4-4-2 at times and could theoretically accommodate the duo with that shape, his typical use of Moussa Diaby alongside Watkins suggests he prefers a more withdrawn option to complement his number nine.
