Aston Villa are interested in a loan deal to sign Shane Long from Southampton this month but, according to claims from Birmingham Live, Steve Bruce is unconvinced by his side’s chances of getting a deal done.
The Championship promotion hopefuls are desperate to recruit a new striker on loan before the window slams shut at the end of August and Long is believed to be among the options under consideration.
Mark Hughes has previously insisted that Long remains firmly in his plans for the future at St Mary’s but following the addition of Danny Ings from Liverpool, first-team chances for the Republic of Ireland international appear to be slim.
Bruce is evidently keen for his Villa side to capitalise on this opportunity to land Long on loan. However, as per Birmingham Live, the Villa boss is not confident that he will be able to convince the 31-year-old to take the step down to the Championship.
Long has spent the majority of his senior years playing Premier League football with clubs such as West Brom, Hull City and most recently Saints, indicating that a move to the second-tier of English football would not be an attractive proposition.
However, with Charlie Austin and Ings evidently ahead of Long in the pecking order at Saints, combined with Manolo Gabbiadini’s presence in the first-team, a move away on a temporary basis could be the forward’s best chance of regular football this season.
