Aston Villa are reportedly eyeing Tammy Abraham for a return to the club as they want to provide ‘support and competition’ for current striker Ollie Watkins.

The Villans recovered from a very poor start to the season with some great results of late. They recently went on an 11-game winning streak across competitions, and they have not lost any of their last three games, after being beaten by Arsenal in late December.

Villastriker Watkins has begun to come into his own of late. The England international has never failed to surpass 10 goals in five seasons in the Premier League, but looked like that run might come to an end this season, as after 13 league games this term he’d scored just once.

But he bagged a brace in game 14 and in a seven-game run, he’s strung together six goals and an assist.

Villa have stuck by Watkins this term, perhaps because they don’t believe they have a better option up top – with Donyell Malen and Evann Guessand not playing consistently.

But The Telegraphreports Villa want to provide ‘support and competition’ for Watkins. The report states they want a ‘specialist striker’ for that role and are therefore ‘eyeing a move’ for Besiktas loanee Abraham.

The 28-year-old played for Villa on loan in the Championship in 2018/19, when he scored 25 goals in the league and one in the triumphant playoff campaign.

He left England in 2021, moving to Roma, before a loan to AC Milan and now Besiktas.

At the Turkish club, Abraham has 12 goals from 24 games, a far better return than last season’s effort with Milan, where he managed just 10 goals all season, and only three of them came in Serie A.

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That could suggest a move back to the Premier League could be too much, but no Villa fan would question a decision made by Unai Emery.

Abraham is due to join Besiktas permanently for ￡11.2million in the summer if certain conditions are met, which could complicate a potential move to Villa, but the Birmingham-based side are still looking into the move.

The report also confirms that Villa are interested in signing Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher, while they are expected to look for a solution for Harvey Elliott, who is on loan at the club, but being given no minutes so he doesn’t reach the 10 games needed to be signed permanently for ￡35million.

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