Aston Villa Opinion: Should Villa revive their interest in Rico Henry?

During the January transfer window, the Birmingham Live reported that Aston Villa was in prime position to sign Brentford full-back Rico Henry.

While a deal for the 21-year-old was far from completion, the Lions were very interested. However, the winter window closed and no move materialised for the full-back.

Things have changed now with manager Dean Smith looking to reinforcing his squad for next season’s promotion push. If anything, the club needs a new left-back, with the Villa boss opting between Kourtney Hause and Neil Taylor.

While both the defenders have been relatively decent as left-backs, Taylor is the only bonafide option Smith has at his disposal.

This has proven to be slightly problematic over the last few months and this raises the question as to who would be the Lions’ option next season. It should without a doubt be Rico Henry, given the young full-back’s performances this season for Brentford.

While a knee injury ruled him out for the first six months of the season, the 21-year-old has returned with a bang.

He played in all but two games after his injury, scoring his first goal for the club, before another injury struck the speedster, ruling him out for an indefinite amount of time.

This has caused a few problems for Brentford but it has simply shown how important Henry’s presence has been. The 21-year-old even won the Championship player of the month for January, before his injury.

What Rico Henry will bring that both Neil Taylor and Kourtney Hause have failed to is athleticism. Very quick off the mark and a solid defender, the youngster has shown his class since his return from injury.

While he did get injured again, Henry’s ability is still miles better than what either Taylor or Hause can add.

For Aston Villa, however, it’s Dean Smith’s history with the former Walsall left-back that will prove to be key when the time comes for a move. The current Villa boss was the manager at Walsall when Henry came up through the ranks.

What could prove to be a small issue is the fact that Brentford acquired the player for £1.5million two years ago in a deal that could go as high as £5million (h/t BBC).

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This means that any deal could be equal or more to what Brentford paid, but it’s a fee worth paying given what Aston Villa will get in return.