The right-back had a disastrous season with The Hammers in 2015/16.
West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic is desperate to sign Carl Jenkinson from Arsenal in January, The Express reports, but a temporary switch to Aston Villa appears a much better move for his career.
The one-time England international has only featured five times for The Gunners this season with Arsene Wenger claiming that his confidence has stalled along with his career development, though being booed by his own fans in Arsenal’s EFL Cup home defeat against Southampton will hardly have helped matters.
The 24-year-old has not played for the club since that loss and The Express claims that Bilic is keen on handing him a lifeline after two previous loan spells with The Hammers.
However, although the Croatian is rather short of options at right-back due to the ongoing absence of Sam Byram and Michael Antonio’s inability to adapt to the role, few West Ham fans would have been clamouring for Jenkinson’s return.
The former Charlton youngster struggled badly at the start of last season, getting sent off in a 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth and drawing the supporters’ anger following a disastrous display in the 4-1 loss at Tottenham before a serious knee injury cut short his season in January.
It goes without saying that a player suffering a crisis of confidence probably should think better about returning to a club where his performances dipped alarmingly.
Therefore, a temporary spell at Villa Park, where he would surely benefit from Steve Bruce’s utilisation of a flat-back four, would give Jenkinson the opportunity to kick-start his career away from the Premier League microscope.
Alan Hutton has been in decent form this season but the 24-year-old would provide extra attacking verve on the right-flank.
According to the Birmingham Mail, Bruce wants to add Jenkinson to his ranks in January and a move to the Midlands would surely benefit all parties.
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