“Most likely” – Aston Villa journalist issues verdict on Sunderland target Cameron Archer’s future ahead of January window | OneFootball

Birmingham Live journalist Ashley Preece believes Aston Villa striker Cameron Archer is more likely to secure a loan move next month than remain at Villa Park.

The 20-year-old has found his game time limited this season following former manager Steven Gerrard’s decision to keep hold of him during the summer window, making just six league appearances with all of these displays coming in the form of short cameos.

Because of this, he hasn’t been able to make any sort of impact in the Midlands, failing to score a single competitive goal and that could potentially persuade new boss Unai Emery to send him out on loan during the January transfer window.

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The forward shone when he was given the chance to shine away from Villa Park, linking up with Ryan Lowe at Preston North End during the previous winter window and scoring seven goals in 20 league appearances during his time at Deepdale.

They could potentially be interested in luring him back to Lancashire, with Sunderland reported to be looking into the possibility of taking him away from his current club temporarily.

And Birmingham Live’s Preece believes it “appears most likely” that Archer will end up making another loan move next month – and there will surely be no shortage of offers from other sides if he’s made available.

Archer would definitely benefit from a loan move and ideally, he would have done so in the summer to give him a full season to prove his worth and develop more.

“Better later than never” is the best phrase to use in this scenario though – because there’s still a chance he could make this term a success for him if he goes out on a temporary spell and manages to make a real impact.

Ideally, he will want to be playing for a team that’s chasing promotion, but game time has to be the priority for the 20-year-old at this stage considering his limited game time at Villa Park during 2022/23 thus far.

A return to Preston may be ideal for him at this point because there’s a good chance he would start over Troy Parrott and Lowe’s side could easily be in the promotion mix during the latter stages of the season.

Already knowing many of the players there and the coaching staff, it wouldn’t take him too long to settle in and that should enable him to make an instant impact, something he will be craving.