Are Aston Villa destined to make a big loss on Scott Hogan?

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Aston Villa could reportedly consider selling Scott Hogan in January – one year after signing the striker from Brentford for £12m

Aston Villa looked to have pulled off a superb deal when they landed Scott Hogan from Brentford in the January transfer window, nabbing the red-hot striker from under the nose of a number of Premier League clubs.

That £12 million price tag (BBC) is starting to look heavier by the game these days, however. Hogan has struggled with both fitness and form since swapping Griffin Park for Villa Park.

Overall, he’s scored just once in 25 Championship games for Steve Bruce’s side, a huge contrast to the 14 in 25 he managed for Brentford in the first half of the 2016/17 season.

And the Sun (29^th October, page 65) reports that Villa could even be willing to listen to offers for Hogan one year after paying such a huge fee to put him in claret and blue. Bruce wants to bring in at least three players in January but Villa may have to sell in order to free up funds due to fears of breaching Financial Fair Play restrictions.

The question, however, is where does Hogan go from here? Will there still be Premier League clubs willing to take a chance on a player whose reputation has taken a huge hit on the back of a failed big-money move to a second tier club?

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic claimed that the club pulled the plug on a deal for Hogan last January as he was happy with the attacking options at his disposal, per Sky Sports.

And with The Hammers since adding Javier Hernandez to the likes of Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho, it appears that Hogan might have missed the boat for a chance to move to the London Stadium.

If West Ham turned their nose up when Hogan was in the form of his life, what chance does he have of making the step up to the top flight now? Aston Villa may struggle to find a buyer willing to help them cut their losses.