Derby County are locked in a transfer tussle with Preston North End to the potential signing of Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis according to Football Insider. 

It is believed that any potential deal would be a season-long loan, with Davis unlikely to be a regular starter for Dean Smith's side this season in the Premier League.

Villa signed Ollie Watkins earlier in the transfer window, and the former Brentford forward has already forced his way into the starting XI this term.

Therefore, opportunities are likely to be limited for Davis, and it'll be interesting to see whether Villa are willing to send the forward out on loan in search of much-needed minutes.

The forward has previously been out on loan with Stevenage earlier in his career, before returning to Aston Villa.

Davis has made 69 appearances for Aston Villa's first-team altogether, although the majority of those outings have come from the substitutes bench.

Derby County are currently sat 19th in the Championship table after a poor start to this year's league campaign, and Phillip Cocu is seemingly keen to add a striker to his ranks in the near future.

Whilst Preston North End are 16th in the second-tier standings, and will be hoping they can build on some impressive showings last term.

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The Verdict: 

This could be a decent signing for either club.

Davis has experience of playing in the Premier League with Aston Villa this season, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking at find regular game time elsewhere this season.

Despite their poor starts to the season, I'm expecting both Derby and Preston to be challenging for promotion into the Premier League this term, and Davis could be the player they need to fire themselves up the second-tier standings.

Game time is more likely to come with the Rams, as they need a striker to replace Chris Martin who left in the summer.