Aston Villa are rivalling Wolves to sign Southampton striker Charlie Austin before the Thursday night transfer cut-off, according to the Sun.
The newspaper claim Dean Smith’s side are one of many clubs to have made an approach about the 29-year-old after the Saints decided to listen to offers for him ahead of the deadline.
The Sun report Wolves, Crystal Palace and Cardiff have expressed their interest in Austin, while Stoke City are also keen on landing him in the next 36 hours.
Good move for Villa?
Austin would be a fine signing for the promotion hopefuls even though he turns 30 in the summer. Villa are well stocked with strikers, but main man Tammy Abraham is only on loan from Chelsea, while Jonathan Kodjia and Keinan Davis are regarded as back-ups. With Scott Hogan joining Sheffield United, it appears Dean Smith is eager to land a blue-chip replacement. Austin would certainly be an upgrade on Hogan. He has been a fringe player at Southampton following the signing of Danny Ings, but he has a record of 34 goals from 97 Premier League games as well as an excellent Championship haul.
This Is Futbol rating 8/10
Likely to happen?
The Sun report Austin would prefer to stay in the Premier League than drop down to the Championship, which means Villa are outsiders in the race. The encouragement comes from the fact that Austin is eager to find a new club and Southampton are willing to go. It’s likely Villa and the other interested clubs would need to match his wages to seal a last-gasp deal.
This Is Futbol rating 3/10