Aston Villa may yet elect to retain the services of striker Scott Hogan beyond the end of the season, a report from a print edition of The Sun (15/03, p60) has claimed.

Hogan is currently on-loan with Villa's local rivals Birmingham City for the remainder of the current campaign, where he has already made a significant impact, scoring seven goals in eight league games.

As a result, while the latest reports have claimed that Birmingham are also keen on making Hogan's loan move permanent in the summer, it has also been suggested that Villa could look to keep the striker this summer, if they suffer relegation back to the Championship this season.

That update will undoubtedly be a cause for concern for Birmingham, and here, we've taken a look at three reasons why the Blues may be worried about the prospect of losing Hogan in the summer.

He has been outstanding for Birmingham since January

The obvious reason for Birmingham's concern here, is the huge impact that Hogan has been in since his move to St Andrew's.

Having been in prolific form ever since his move to Birmingham, Hogan has already made himself a key figure in helping the Blues establish themselves firmly in mid-table thanks to his goals.

Consequentially, losing Hogan in the summer would undoubtedly be frustrating for Birmingham, given his record since moving to Birmingham in January may have left some around the club wondering what might've been had they been able to call upon him for the entirety of the campaign.

It would leave them short in attack

Another problem that Birmingham will face if Villa retain the services of Hogan in the summer, is the lack of options they will be left with in attack.

As things stand, Hogan is the only established alternative Birmingham have upfront to Lukas Jutkiewicz, who did at sometimes look overwhelmed when left to lead the line by himself prior to Hogan's arrival midway through the campaign.

Consequentially, losing Hogan in the summer would put significant pressure on the Blues in the transfer window, since they would have to go out and find at least one more attacker to provide that all-important for Jutkiewicz they would surely need to be competitive next season.

It would not go down well with the fans

Given the significant and immediate impact that Hogan has made since joining Birmingham, it is perhaps no surprise that the striker has already made himself a popular figure amongst the club's fanbase.

Consequentially, the loss of Hogan is something that will not be popular around St Andrew's, especially with the concern that it could provoke about that aforementioned lack of attacking options at the club.

That is something that would only be made worse by the fact they would be losing Hogan to their local rivals Villa, potentially even leaving them with the prospect of having to come up against the striker next season, if Villa are indeed relegated this season.