Huge Blow: Aston Villa Dealt Blow As Championship Side Refuse To Sell Star
Aston Villa have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Norwich City star Jonathan Rowe, according to a report from journalist Pete O’Rourke via Football Insider.
The 20-year-old has been a breakout star for the Canaries so far this season, which has subsequently attracted the interest of Premier League sides such as Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, although the door from a Norwich perspective has been firmly closed.
Since earning his first-team place this season, Rowe has made 13 appearances in all competitions for Norwich City so far, scoring seven goals and providing an additional two assists.
The Canaries is under contract at Carrow Road until June 2025 and the club are adamant that Rowe won’t be leaving the club due to their promotion aspirations for the current campaign.
Rowe has spent his entire youth and professional career with Norwich City, having never experienced a loan move away from the football club during his development.
Speaking of Norwich, David Wagner’s side currently sit seventh in the Championship at the time of writing, heading into this weekend’s home clash against Leeds United with a victory potentially taking the side as high as third in the table.
Norwich have won five of their opening eleven matches but went into the international break off the back of a 1-1 draw against Coventry City with a Ben Gibson own-goal denying the club of all three points.
Rowe is currently tied with West Bromwich Albion’s John Swift in joint-second place in the golden boot race, sitting a goal behind Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics, Sunderland’s Jack Clarke and Southampton’s Adam Armstrong.
Writer’s View
Admittedly, it isn’t surprising to see Norwich City slam the door on a potential exit for Rowe, especially given the side’s aims of making it into the top six this season.
However, they do leave themselves at risk given Rowe would be entering the final 12 months of his contract if he were to stay at the club and that could have a knock-on effect should the side fail to gain promotion as his value would drop.
FPL: High-scoring Watkins popular choice for managers
Aston Villa have again teamed up with Fantasy Football Scout to help bring you hints, tips and advice during the 2023/24 FPL season.Â
Fantasy Football Scout are here to use their expertise to provide helpful info and guidance which may just prove useful in ensuring you’re sitting at the top of your respective league before long.
Here they take a look at Villa striker Ollie Watkins as he currently sits as the most transferred in FPL player for Gameweek 9…
Ollie Watkins (£8.2m) has continued his club form over the international break, scoring the only goal in England’s 1-0 win against Australia at Wembley. This will add to his appeal amongst Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Watkins has been purchased over 191,000 times during this break, ensuring he is the most-bought player ahead of Gameweek 9.
The Englishman has only failed to return in one league match so far, with his 11 attacking returns more than any other Premier League player.
The forward is also the top-scoring player in FPL thanks to his four goals, seven assists and six bonus points. His 25 goal attempts rank as the fifth-most.
Additionally, Watkins has set up 16 chances for others, three of which have been classified as big chances. Only one forward in the game has been more creative than Watkins so far, which is great for FPL managers as it increases Watkins’ routes to points returns.
Not only that, he is also averaging more points per start than any other forward in the game – starting every Villa match and averaging 7.4 points each time.
