Many Aston Villa fans have been reacting to Rico Henry’s comments on social media, with the left-back revealing his experiences with the club as a youngster.
Recent reports have suggested that the Brentford ace remains on Dean Smith's transfer radar ahead of the summer window.
Henry a possible Taylor replacement?
Smith worked with Henry in London prior to moving to Villa Park, and the 23-year-old has gone on to make more than 120 appearances for the Bees.
Should a move to Villa go through, Henry could come in to replace the ageing Neil Taylor, with the Welshman - who has made just one league appearance this season - out of contract at the end of the campaign.
Henry, talking to Brentford’s YouTube channel (as cited by Birmingham Live) shared his story of how he started out as a Villa fan before switching his allegiances to Birmingham City.
"You know what, people don’t know this. (I supported) Aston Villa because my dad supported them."
"I went on trial at Villa and didn’t get signed so my dad stopped supporting them. So we were kind of forced to watch Birmingham. It was crazy."
"I’m quite detached now. Brentford is my team and you don’t want to think about other clubs. Now I don’t really support anyone."
@AVFC_News shared the story on social media on Sunday morning, which - as to be expected - received plenty of attention from numerous Villa supporters.
Here is what they had to say regarding Henry, with one fan describing him as an ‘excellent’ left-back.
Villa fans react
"This to me if true sounds like he's hinting that he would love to play for us. The fact that he said he don't support anyone hints he would snap our hands off if we came crawling. I say sign the kid, He's a very good left-back and would do very well for us"
"It’s a whole different story when wages of 40k+ come into it"
"Think that wound soon change if we signed him"
"Love the part where he says after he stopped supporting Villa they were "kind of forced to watch Birmingham" Clearly not the most favourable option."
"Just because he didn't get signed, they switched to the rivals. Bit daft"
"Still an excellent LB, who he supports won’t matter if Smith & Lange really pushed hard enough, we’ll soon see, but our club's signings tend to come from where we least expect, but I’d like to see n have said for a while is Dwight McNeil"
In other news: Villa learn price for in-demand Premier League midfielder, find out more here.