Aston Villa are reportedly keen on re-signing Stewart Downing from Middlesbrough.
According to the Daily Mail, Aston Villa are one of a number of clubs interested in signing Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing this month.
Downing, 32, played a key role in helping Middlesbrough win promotion from the Championship last season, as he notched three goals and five assists following a summer move from West Ham United.
Having aided his hometown club in their return to the top flight, Downing will have hoped to play a huge part this term, but he’s started just 11 of Middlesbrough’s 20 Premier League games this season, with Aitor Karanka handing playing time to the likes of Viktor Fischer, Gaston Ramirez and Adama Traore.
Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing in action with Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum
Now, the Daily Mail report that Downing has been told that he can leave the club on loan this month in search of first-team football – and a host of clubs are keen to lure him away from the Riverside Stadium.
It’s stated that Crystal Palace, Derby County and Fulham are all interested in signing the former England international, but the most interesting link is to Downing’s former club Aston Villa, with Steve Bruce allegedly keen.
Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing scores against Bournemouth
Downing joined Villa from Middlesbrough back in 2009, and he hit 11 goals in 79 games for the club before earning a move to Liverpool in 2011, and history could repeat itself, with Villa looking to offer him another move from the Riverside Stadium to Villa Park.
It’s unclear whether Villa fans would accept Downing returning to the club having left under something of a cloud, but he may be just what manager Bruce is looking for.
Villa lack a natural left-footed winger, and with Bruce’s men seven points off the Championship play-offs, they need somebody with proven quality to fire Villa towards the top six – and Downing fits the bill, especially having won promotion to the top flight last season.
Last season, we saw just how important Robert Snodgrass was to Bruce’s Hull side, as the Scot hit four goals and seven assists to help the Tigers win promotion. With a great left foot, superb set pieces and crossing, an eye for goal and a creative spark, Snodgrass was a major factor in Hull’s promotion under Bruce.
Snodgrass may be three years younger than Downing, but the Middlesbrough misfit offers many similar traits to the Hull star, and it’s those qualities that may make Downing the ideal January signing for Bruce and Villa – if they can win the race to sign him and bring him back to Villa Park.
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