A former Aston Villa striker has spoken on his departure from the club, saying he eventually left because Unai Emery wasn’t going to give him opportunities.
Aston Villa haven’t been short of serial goal-getters in recent years. Of course, the most recent is Ollie Watkins, who has been prolific in the Premier League for years since signing from Brentford in 2020.
Jhon Duran also scored for fun whilst he was at the Villans, that was until his short stint was ended via a move to the Saudi Pro League.
But before the Unai Emery era really kicked off, Villa used to bounce around many strikers. One of those, if you cast your mind back, was Keinan Davis.
Keinan Davis Signs Contract Extension At Aston Villa
Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
Keinan Davis explains why he left Aston Villa
Davis joined Villa in 2015 after impressing while on trial, and he made his debut for the club in January 2017 in an FA Cup tie at Tottenham Hotspur.
Davis made 86 appearances across eight years. As he grew older, he wanted to play more, but he knew that this wasn’t going to happen under Emery, as it never materialised with Dean Smith.
“I was never meant to break through at Villa,” he told The Athletic. “I came into the academy late and was playing with guys who had been there since seven or eight. Because of that, I always felt like an outsider.
“To go from Biggleswade to Aston Villa at 17 doesn’t happen every day, you know? I always had an underdog mentality to get as much out of football as I could. I overextended what I thought I could do at Villa. I didn’t think I would achieve just moving into the first-team dressing room. In my mind, it was a miracle.
“I got to stay with the first team, playing consecutive years in the Premier League and being involved, but I never felt a mainstay due to playing time. I knew there’d be a point where I’d have to go. Before I left, I was trying to leave on loan and would ask Dean Smith, the manager at the time, if I could, but he wanted me around.”
“I knew the time was coming when I needed to go and play, because I was always a second-choice striker,” he says. “I was on a good contract, but not playing.
“The question was, do you want to go out and stamp your name and be your own player? I couldn’t be at Villa and allow them to carry me throughout my career. I lived in Birmingham for a long time and it’s my second home, but I knew the bigger picture.”
Emery decided that Davis was free to leave in 2023, and he did just that.
Aston Villa can confirm Keinan Davis has completed a permanent transfer to Udinese.
Everyone at the club would like to thank Keinan for his service and wish him all the best in his future career.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 1, 2023
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Where is Keinan Davis now?
After loan spells at Watford and Nottingham Forest, Davis, who described himself in the interview as a “fast and powerful” striker, left Villa permanently, with Udinese in the Serie A his desired destination.
“Initially, I said no to coming to Udinese because I was just thinking England,” he says. “I know Serie A, but I didn’t watch it. I was tunnel-visioned to stay in England. But I talked to a few people whose words mean a lot to me. One of them was my coach from Biggleswade FC, the team I joined before Villa, called Dave Northfield.
“He couldn’t believe I wasn’t going to go. He said, ‘When you were at Biggleswade, I never thought you’d have the chance to play at the San Siro. You’ve played in a Championship before, been promoted twice, you’re at a good age – go out there and see how it goes’.”
So, how is it going? Well, so far, he’s played 31 times in two years, bagging twice for the Italians. Injuries have been an issue, but he’s confident he’ll find consistency again.
Keinan Davis of Udinese during the Serie A match between Udinese and SS Lazio
Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images
“What you want to do straight away is play well so you just get that immediate respect from your team-mates,” he says. “It was back-to-back-to-back injuries and it took a long time to get back to how I was. It was very hard mentally.”
“In my second season, I got injured for nine weeks at the halfway stage,” Davis says. “So once I did come back, I waited a couple of weeks to get into the team.”
He’s now fully fit and ready for his third season for the Italians and will be hoping for some better luck this campaign and beyond.