Grealish 'very keen' Aston Villa sign Abraham as pundit says it could be greal deal
Aston Villa must sign a new striker if Wesley is allowed to leave on loan this summer, according to Alan Hutton.
The former Holte End favourite, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested Tammy Abraham could return to Villa Park as competition for Ollie Watkins.
As revealed by Football Insider in early May, Villa have set aside a record-breaking £40million to sign the 23-year-old ahead of Premier League rivals Wolves and Leicester.
A Villa source has added to Football Insider that Abraham remains firmly on the club's radar and his good friend Jack Grealish is "very keen" for the deal to happen.
Dean Smith currently has Watkins, Keinan Davis and Wesley Moraes as his senior striker options.
However, it is understood Villa are willing to sanction a loan deal for the Brazilian after his injury nightmare.
As such, Hutton insisted Smith needs another centre-forward at his disposal.
He touted a star quality signing like Abraham over another squad player.
"If you're going to let Wesley go, surely he's going to have to bring someone in," Hutton told Football Insider's Russell Edge.
"They've only got Ollie Watkins and Keinan Davis, really. Watkins has played a lot of minutes this season. To let one of your strikers go, you need to be thinking: 'Right. We're going to need to bring someone in.'
"Whether that's going to be someone to challenge Ollie Watkins, like a Tammy Abraham - I can see that - or someone of that ilk. That, or you're going to look to bring in a squad player. It's definitely an interesting situation."
He played just 15 minutes in three substitute appearances this term.
In comparison, Watkins started all but once and played 97 per cent of minutes in the Premier League.