Neal Maupay has scored ten goals in the Championship this season for Brentford, but could he follow Dean Smith to Aston Villa in the January transfer window?
Well that came out of nowhere. It seemed that Dean Smith had fallen down the pecking order of potential Aston Villa appointments, with the likes of Thierry Henry, John Terry and Rui Faria tipped to get the top job.
But, in a rather unexpected twist, Smith suddenly left Brentford on Wednesday night to take the manager’s job at his boyhood club.
And Villa fans have not waited around to tell Smith who they want snapped up in the January transfer window.
Neal Maupay has been a revelation under the 47-year-old at Griffin Park; his ten goals in ten Championship starts making him the top scorer in the division as things stand.
The France U21 international arrived at Brentford from St Etienne in 2017 for a fee of £1.6 million and his penalty box poaching has made him a constant source of goals for the Bees. He is already two goals away from matching his tally from last season.
While Villa have Tammy Abraham, Jonathan Kodjia and former Brentford talisman Scott Hogan to call on, Maupay is perhaps the most natural goal-scorer in the Championship right now, so you can see why some fans want him signed.
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