Football Insider reveals that Aston Villa are ready to listen to offers for striker Wesley this summer.

The 24-year-old has not featured for the club this season as he continues to recover from a serious knee injury.

Price-tag and salary:

Villa signed Wesley for £22.5m in 2019, but the forward's worth has dropped since then. He is now valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt.

The attacker has over three years remaining on his £35,000-a-week contract at Villa Park.

Statistics:

Wesley has been out of action since suffering an ACL injury in January 2020. 

Prior to this setback, he found goals hard to come by in his maiden Premier League campaign. The attacker managed just five goals in 21 top-flight matches in 2019/20.

By comparison, Villa have three players who have already netted more in the league this season than Wesley did last term. This includes Ollie Watkins, who has netted 10 league goals in his first year in England's top division.

Expert opinion:

Wesley had some difficult moments settling into life in England, but manager Dean Smith backed his forward during the opening months of the 2019/20 season.

Speaking in October 2019 after a draw with Burnley, Smith said of Wesley via TEAMtalk: “His performance wasn’t great on Saturday against Burnley, and he was the first to admit that to me afterwards as well when I went through his clips with him.

“But what I’ve seen in training this week has been a reaction. He’s trained very well this week and he’ll be the first to go out there and try to prove people wrong.

“He’s a young striker – he’s still only 22 – but he’ll get better and better.”

Verdict:

Villa may have found some more players to chip in with goals this season but they are still some way from being the complete package.

The side have only taken one point from losing positions in the Premier League this year - the worst record of any team in the division.

Cleary Smith's men are in need of a Plan B who can help change the momentum of games and Wesley might just be the answer.

When Wesley did play last year, he won 3.3 aerial duels per game - a number only bettered by Kortney Hause - and at 6 foot 3, he is certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Watkins' hold-up play is more than impressive, but Wesley offers an even greater physical presence and having both in the box latching onto crosses when chasing games would give Villa a different dimension in attack.

It's suggested moving on Wesley will allow Villa to bring in another striker, but ahead of a transfer window that looks fraught with difficulty due to the global crisis, Smith may well be better off sticking with what he has. 

Wesley could well be the solution to Villa's biggest problem this season, and it would be unwise of the club to cast him aside without being given the chance to prove it.