Brentford left-back, Rico Henry, remains on the radar of Aston Villa and former boss, Dean Smith. 

Having led Villa back into the Premier League in 2019 and kept them there in 2019/20, Smith is slowly building a squad to challenge in the top half of the table.

Matty Cash's arrival from Nottingham Forest has solved a headache of sorts on the right side of defence, but heading into the coming summer there's a desire to sign some competition for Matt Targett on the opposite side.

As per a report from The Athletic, Villa remain keen on Henry at Brentford, with Smith previously working with the left-back in West London before taking the Villa job.

The 23-year-old is one of the Championship's standout left-backs at the moment, having developed and made 113 league and play-off appearances with Brentford.

Henry was ever-present last season as Brentford challenged for promotion and reached the play-off final, whilst he's also been key to putting Thomas Frank's side in automatic promotion contention this term.

He's clocked up 30 appearances in the Championship this season but is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

A postponed fixture at the weekend meant that Brentford slipped to fourth in the table, three points adrift of Watford in second.

The Verdict 

Henry is one of the standout players in the Championship and has been over the course of the last 18 months at least.

In terms of left-backs, good ones are hard to get hold of, but Henry would be a good option for most in the Premier League and you've got to imagine he will be playing at that level next season, with or without Brentford.

Targett's role at Villa might be something that concerns him potentially moving to Villa Park, but other factors would be in their favour.

He knows Smith, who is playing a system that would get the best out of him.

Thoughts? Let us know!