Aston Villa know far too well what it’s like having a number of loan players on their books and then those players helping them to promotion to the Premier League.
Tyrone Mings and Tammy Abraham were just some of the star names that helped Villa return to back to the big time in 2019.
And now, another Midlands side, Nottingham Forest, have done what supporters shouldn’t do and that’s fall in love with a loan player.
In January, Keinan Davis moved to the City Ground on a loan deal from Villa hoping to help Steve Cooper’s side to an unlikely promotion.
Back in September, Forest were sitting rock bottom of the Championship table and staring at relegation.
But in the middle of the afternoon on the 29th of May, Davis was being applauded off the pitch at Wembley, as Forest went on to end their 23-year absence from England’s top flight.
They earned promotion by beating Huddersfield 1-0 in the Championship play-off final, with Villa’s hard-hitting striker playing a key role in their success.
As things stand, Davis returns to Villa this summer, but this is where Steven Gerrard needs to part ways with the 24-year-old and sell him to Forest.
It’s understandable that Forest, given the connection Davis has now built with them, will probably put an extra few million down for his talents when it comes to negotiations.
That suits Villa because it also means extra dough, but they also need to remember that Davis doesn’t push ahead of either Ollie Watkins or Danny Ings back at Bodymoor Heath, so there is no point keeping him on.
At Villa, the Englishman wasn’t provided with enough consistent opportunities, and when he did earn minutes, injuries always hurt him.
Now, he is at the top of his game, he needs to continue his progression and that will only happen by him playing on a regular basis.
And Forest would surely be more than welcome to provide him with that as they step back into the back time.
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