West Ham United and Aston Villa would be signing their 'own Kyle Walker' if they bring in Rico Henry this month.

That's according to Kevin Phillips, who has told Football Insider that he believes Henry has similar attributes to the Manchester City full-back.

The Athletic have recently reported that both West Ham and Villa have been keeping tabs on Henry, with the Hammers making an offer for the full-back earlier this year.

Henry featured in all of Brentford's 46 Championship matches last season, as the Bees narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League.

This season, he's made 21 league starts for Thomas Frank's side, as they look to go one further in the race for promotion this term.

Phillips said: "I’m surprised he’s one of those that didn’t go when Benrahma went and Ollie Watkins went after their promotion push last season.

"He’s one of their better players as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if he did go, he’s one of their better players, attacking-wise, sometimes I think he’s that quick he can make up for some of the errors.

"He’s a bit like Kyle Walker, who I think is a fantastic player, he can recover when he makes a mistake and get out of trouble and I think Rico Henry’s a bit like that.

"That might be one of the reasons why maybe a Premier League club hasn’t gone in for him because he does have a mistake in him."

Henry still has another two years left on his contract in West London, with his deal not set to expire until the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

The Verdict

I've rated Henry for a while, and I think he'd make the step-up to the Premier League with ease.

When you're as good at attacking as Henry is, it might be easy for him to forget about his defensive duties and switch off at times.

But he is an all-round left-back who is just as good at doing both. He's fast, can keep up with wingers and get into the area with ease.

Dean Smith obviously knows him well having played under him at both Brentford and Walsall, and I think that would play a factor if Villa made a bid.