Premier League Aston Villa will reportedly farm Scott Hogan out of Midland rivals Birmingham City but can he salvage his career in the Championship?
Scott Hogan was at Birmingham City’s training ground on Tuesday as the £12 million Aston Villa flop closes in on a controversial move to their Midland rivals, according to the Birmingham Mail.
With the January deadline just two days away, a Republic of Ireland international is set to follow in the footsteps of Craig Gardner, Curtis Davies, Emile Heskey and co by crossing the divide from one Second City giant to the other.
Hogan joined Aston Villa three years ago after a brilliant spell at Brentford but to say the speedy striker hasn’t lived up to his £12 million price-tag would be an understatement. In 61 matches, he’s scored just ten times.
Though, despite his dreadful record in claret and blue, a shock move to St Andrews is still likely to be rather uncomfortable viewing for the more hard-nosed members of Aston Villa’s fan base.
The Mail reports that Hogan travelled to Birmingham’s training ground on Tuesday with the 27-year-old set to join on loan.
You could argue, however, that helping out their cross-city rivals represents a necessary evil. Hogan has another 18 months left on his contract at Villa Park and, if the Premier League outfit want to recoup some of that £12 million outlay, Hogan needs to be playing regular first-team football.
Should he rediscover his golden touch at Birmingham, he may just earn Aston Villa a pretty penny by the time the summer rolls around. But given that Hogan has scored just five times in 21 games on loan at Stoke and Sheffield United in the last 12 months, that might be wishful thinking.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
