Aston Villa are hoping to reunite Dean Smith with his former Brentford left-back Rico Henry this summer, according to The Mail.
While this Birmingham-born flyer is hardly the most high-profile member of an exciting Bees squad, he appears to be rivalling the Ollie Watkins’ and Said Benrahma’s of the world when it comes to attracting offers from elsewhere.
It feels like almost half of the Premier League has been linked with Henry over the last week or so and now we can add Aston Villa to that list.
Though, when you consider that Villa boss Smith has already signed Henry once in his managerial career, the only surprise is that it took this long for the Midland giants to emerge onto the scene.
Back in 2016, Brentford paid a fee rising to £5 million to sign a then-19-year-old from League One Walsall – quite a statement when you consider that he was a teenager with less than 50 first-team appearances under his belt.
Smith even went as far as to compare Henry with arguably the best left-back of the 21st century.
“He’s been excellent. If I were to liken him to anyone it would be a young Ashley Cole. And it’s up to him how far he can now go in the game,” the boyhood Villa fan told BBC Sport.
“I’ve recommended him a couple of times to the England Under-19s because, if there’s a better left-sided player in the country at 18 years of age, I’d like to see them.
“He’s got a great desire and a will to win. His attitude and application to everything he does is spot on. He’s got a good engine and pace, he can get up and down the pitch and he’s got two goals already this season which is very good for a left-back.”
With another three years remaining on his contract, the chances are that Aston Villa will have to pay a fair bit more than £5 million to reunite Smith and Henry for a third time.
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