Aston Villa have identified Burnley winger Dwight McNeil as one of their top transfer targets this summer, as revealed by Football Insider.

What's the latest transfer news involving Dwight McNeil?

It was reported earlier this month that Villa will aim to sign two wide forwards in the next transfer window, and it seems that they have set their sights on making McNeil one of them.

Villa's recruitment team are believed to rate McNeil highly, and the club are said to be preparing a "huge bid" for the 21-year-old.

How much is he worth and when does his contract expire?

The Midlands-based side seem prepared to spend big, and they may need to in order to prise McNeil away from Turf Moor. According to Transfermarkt, he is worth £19.8m, but Burnley are likely to want more than that due to the player's potential.

McNeil also still has three years left on his contract, with an option to extend that by a further 12 months, signalling that Burnley do not need to sell him this year unless they get an appropriate offer.

What are McNeil's stats this season?

The promising youngster has only missed two league games in 2020/21 due to a groin injury. In the 31 top-flight matches that he has played in, he has provided five assists, as per WhoScored. Only Jack Grealish (10) has delivered more assists for Villa this year.

McNeil would also feature in the top two at Villa when it comes to key passes (42) and successful dribbles (57). Once again, it is Grealish who pips him to the post in both of these categories.

What's been said about McNeil?

The England Under-21 international has caught the eye of plenty of admiring onlookers in recent times.

Jamie Redknapp raved about McNeil last year on Sky Sports, as quoted by Lancs Live, saying: "Every time I watch him he gets better and better, he's got real quality and certainly a player that the top six to eight clubs will be looking at, and that's no disrespect to Burnley because I don't like saying that sometimes, but he is that good.

"He's got great energy from midfield."

Could McNeil make Watkins even better?

Definitely.

According to WhoScored, Watkins has scored three headed goals this season, putting him joint-sixth in the league in this category. Meanwhile, McNeil has produced 45 accurate crosses - no Villa player has managed more than 20.

This indicates that if McNeil joined Dean Smith's side, he would be able to deliver significantly more balls into the box for Watkins to attack, which could lead to Watkins scoring even more than the 12 goals he has notched up this year.

Watkins has been a major success story for Villa since arriving last summer, and McNeil's arrival would give him the opportunity to continue his meteoric rise.