Teenage striker Keinan Davis is enjoying a breakthrough season at Aston Villa.
The former manager of Keinan Davis has revealed to the Daily Star that Aston Villa nearly missed out on signing the 19-year-old striker to Ipswich Town.
Dave Northfield, who gave Davis his chance at Biggleswade FC, recalled to the Daily Star how Villa’s thorough scouting nearly opened the door for Ipswich to sign the teenager.
“He was spotted in our games, especially in our FA Cup run. Villa had a scout watch him about 10 times,” Northfield is quoted by the Daily Star as saying.
Davis has gone from Biggleswade Town to teaming up with former England captain John Terry at Aston Villa
“They took a long time to make their decision. Other clubs came in late but Villa had done all the work on him.
“He went and trained at Ipswich before training at Villa. They wanted to sign him on a six-week trial. I told them he was going to Villa and we promised him a week there. He did that and he loved it there.”
Davis was released by Stevenage before joining non-league Biggleswade, where a change in position from left winger to centre forward improved his fortunes.
Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce has shown the faith in Davis to make him a first-team regular
He got his big move to the West Midlands in 2015, and his breakthrough into the first team has been one of the highlights of Villa’s season so far.
The youngster has scored two goals and provided an assist in 12 Championship appearances, and has also impressed with his work rate and hold-up play.
As BBC Sport reports, Davis has recently signed a contract extension until 2020, and will be hoping to continue his rise to stardom with Villa in the Premier League next season.
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