Nick Powell’s form at League One Wigan Athletic has attracted the attention of Championship hopefuls Aston Villa.

Nick Powell was tipped for great things when swapping Crewe Alexandra for Manchester United back in the summer of 2012.
Six years later, however, the fact that he is playing for Wigan Athletic in the third tier of English football should make it clear that the player once compared to Eric Cantona and Wayne Rooney by his former Crewe boss Dario Gradi (talkSPORT) has not quite lived up to such lofty expectations.

It is understood that Brighton are preparing a £5 million bid for a player they failed to sign in January, while Celtic are also keen after Powell helped Wigan become favourites for the League One title and reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
Yet it is renewed links with Aston Villa that have the fans talking. Steve Bruce knows Powell well, having coached him during a loan spell at Hull City, while his 12 goals in 33 games would provide further firepower to a Villa side not exactly blessed with prolific marksmen.

That said, Villa fans have their concerns. There is a reason Powell is playing in League One these days and Villa already have a brilliant number ten coming through the ranks by the name of Callum O’Hare.
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