Middlesbrough, Preston and Watford have learnt what must happen before they can sign Aston Villa starlet Cameron Archer this summer.

As per reporter Alan Nixon via Patreon, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard wants to bring in another senior striker at Villa Park before allowing Archer to depart the club on a temporary basis.

The England under-21 international spent the second half of the 2021/22 campaign out on loan at Preston, scoring seven goals in 21 Championship appearances.

During his time at Deepdale, Archer clearly impressed, with Preston keen to bring him back this summer.

They are not the only side interested, though.

It recently emerged, via TalkSPORT's Alex Crook, that Middlesbrough along with Watford were interested in a move for the 20-year-old this summer.

This was then confirmed by The Athletic's Villa reporter Gregg Evans, who stated that Gerrard wanted to look at the youngster closely in pre-season before deciding on his next move.

Evans did, however, state that Watford were "well-positioned" if the striker does leave Villa Park this summer.

The Verdict

I suppose that this makes sense from an Aston Villa standpoint.

There are murmurs that Danny Ings may be on his way out of Villa Park this summer, and in that scenario, that would leave just Ollie Watkins and Cameron Archer, along with Keinan Davis, as the club's senior striking options.

Archer and Davis have limited first team experience at Villa, though, hence why there is seemingly hesitation to put themselves in that scenario.

Indeed, it may be the case that Archer does not make the move out on loan until later in the window, if he does so at all.

That could potentially leave the three interested clubs pursuing other targets beforehand.