Aston Villa: 20-year-old star's exit 'on the cards' at Villa Park

Aston Villa striker Cameron Archer is likely to leave on loan in January, according to BirminghamLive reporter Ashley Preece.

The highly-rated youngster returned to Villa in a bid to challenge for a first-team place following a successful spell at Preston last season, but he’s hardly been given a look in by Steven Gerrard.

Having scored a hatful of goals for Villa’s U23s, plus strikes in the EFL Trophy and Carabao Cup, it quickly became evident that Archer needed to be tested at a higher level.

As a result, Archer was hot property back in January, with a host of EFL sides queuing up for his signature.

Ultimately, Preston won the race, and the 20-year-old made a big impact during his loan spell, registering seven goals and one assist in less than 1,700 minutes of Championship action, which quickly saw him become a fans’ favourite at Deepdale.

But since returning to Villa, Archer has made just three substitute appearances, two in the Premier League and one against Bolton in the Carabao Cup.

To make matters worse, experienced frontman Danny Ings can’t even get in the side right now, which doesn’t bode well for Archer’s own first-team chances.

Preece reckons that besides the upcoming Carabao Cup tie at Old Trafford in November, it’s difficult to see where Archer’s next minutes are coming from and reckons that another loan move is best.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “He needs minutes, will he get them? I’m not quite sure. Ings is waiting in the wings on the bench at the moment, Watkins is the main man, there’s no getting around that and I think Archer will have to bide his time.

“He might get a run out against Manchester United in the cup, but other than that, I think he will be looking for a loan in January. He needs to be playing