Former Aston Villa manager Dean Smith wants to bring Cameron Archer to Norwich City, but he will have a fight on his hands to do so. 

That's according to Samuel Seaman, a football journalist and specialist Norwich reporter for Pink Un.

The lowdown

Smith was in charge at Villa Park from October 2018 until his sacking last November. Having led the club back to the Premier League in 2019, he may hope that there's an enduring appreciation in the Midlands which he can use to his advantage.

Archer, who was given his senior Villa debut by the current Canaries manager, spent the latter half of the 2021/22 on loan in the Championship with Preston North End.

The latest

Seaman provided the update on the race for Archer on Twitter on Saturday evening. Sharing a corresponding article for Pink Un, he tweeted: "Our understanding is that Dean Smith is a big fan."

However, he also stated that "it looks like" Norwich may be forced to "battle for the signature" of the 20-year-old, with fellow relegated club Watford also said to be interested.

The verdict

It's easy to understand why Smith is so keen on Archer. The youngster had only made six appearances for Villa's first team, and 27 for National League outfit Solihull Moors, before he went on loan on to Preston, but he hit the ground running in the Championship.

He started 18 games during his stint at Deepdale and managed to bag seven goals for Ryan Lowe's side, along with supplying one assist.

Archer will be another season further down the line in his development and could light up the second tier with the Canaries, who will be hoping to bounce straight back to the top flight once again.

A loan move may be more likely, though, with Gerrard previously warning Preston to 'get your noughts out' in order to sign him permanently.

In other news, one transfer insider drops this claim involving a big-six midfielder and Villa