Yahoo News Stan Collymore would 'drive' former Birmingham City defender to seal Aston Villa transfer
Stan Collymore, the former Aston Villa striker, would love to see his boyhood club make a move for Luton Town defender - and former Birmingham City loanee - Teden Mengi in the summer. Mengi, who is still only 21, joined Luton on a permanent deal from Manchester United in the summer transfer window.
Despite the Hatters' general struggles and ongoing battle for survival, Mengi has impressed by and large this season in the back-line and, in the event that the club were to find themselves in the Championship next season, he could attract interest from Luton's fellow top flight sides.
Mengi spent the second half of the 2021-22 season on loan at Blues; he joined Lee Bowyer's side as they battled to remain in the Championship, and he played nine league matches, prior to an injury, in helping the club to ensure that they steered clear of dropping into League One. Since, he has gone from strength to strength under Rob Edwards and has shown he can compete at the highest level.
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Collymore, who played for Villa between 1997 and 2000 after a spell at Liverpool, has explained how impressed he's been by Mengi and how much he'd like to see the defender end up at Villa, if the stars aligned, in the summer.
"I’ve been really impressed by his performances and I'm sure he’ll be on several “big clubs” radars," Collymore told CaughtOffside. "He’s played for England at every age level so will have had an A+ club and international grounding. Personally, I’d drive him to Villa Park tomorrow if Unai Emery fancies it."
Villa will bid farewell to loanee Clement Lenglet in the summer when he returns to parent club Barcelona. The Frenchman has proven himself to be a dependable member of the side chasing Champions League football and Europa Conference League silverware, but it's likely to be a department which Unai Emery explores in the summer.
Diego Carlos, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa - although the latter has predominantly played as a right back more recently - have been the players Emery has largely relied upon while Tyrone Mings continues to progress in his recovery from an ACL injury last summer.
