Norwich City are reportedly in pole position to capture Keinan Davis from Aston Villa in January, with the forward being available for just £2-4 million.
According to a report from Football Insider, Norwich City are the front-runners to secure the signature of Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis in January. The report adds that the 23-year-old could be available for a fee as low as £2 million while the Midlands outfit are open to both loan and permanent options as they look to offload the academy graduate to make space for further reinforcements in the winter market.
Recently-appointed Norwich boss Dean Smith is a firm admirer of Davis’s attributes and is hoping to prise him away from his former club in the upcoming transfer window. Smith believes Davis can establish a decent striking partnership alongside Norwich’s talisman Teemu Pukki as the Canaries look for a more clinical second half of the campaign to steer away from relegation.
The Premier League Basement Boys are currently sitting rock-bottom of the table, three points adrift of safety. They are coming off the back of a decent new manager bounce, though, picking up eight points from their last five games while showing good defensive resilience. However, the real problem lies in their lack of productivity. With just eight goals, they have the weakest attack in the league so far.
The issue became apparent in their recent games against Wolves, Newcastle United and Tottenham, where they were unable to convert their goalscoring opportunities. Smith seems to have taken note of the problem and is looking to bolster his striking options, with former striker Keinan Davis a priority target for the new manager.
Released by Stevenage as a teenager, Davis joined non-league outfit Biggleswade Town before Villa picked him up in 2015. He made his Villa debut in the Championship back in 2017 under then-manager Steve Bruce and cemented a position in the team. But injuries have stalled his progression in the two years afterwards, and having proven Premier League forwards such as Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins ahead of him in the pecking order has not helped either.
In total, Davis has made 86 appearances for the Villans, the majority of which have come as a substitute. He has registered a poor return of only six goals and seven assists during his time at Villa Park.
While he does not boast an excellent scoring record, his physicality and strength is a nuisance for defenders to handle. He is a powerful runner and is good at holding up play, providing an outlet for other creative players around him.
Pukki has been Norwich’s greatest goalscoring threat this season, scoring five goals in 15 top-flight games. But there is a feeling amongst the Norwich fans that a lot more goals can come from the Finnish striker if he is doubled up with someone alongside him to share the workload.
With summer-signing Josh Sargent struggling to cope with the rigours of the Premier League, it makes sense for the Canaries to bring in a target-man like Keinan Davis, who has the top-flight experience and can be an aerial threat to get on the end of the crosses. Whether Smith gets to reunite with the young attacker at Carrow Road remains to be seen.