Remi Garde wishes to bolster his Aston Villa strikeforce with a January move for Queens Park Rangers man Charlie Austin, per reports in the Daily Mail.
The Villans currently sit bottom of the Premier League table, and have scored just 10 so far with a third of the season gone already. They're desperately in need of something to kick-start their season, and Austin could provide that.
Scott Sinclair, Jordan Ayew and Rudy Gestede have all shown their quality as strikers this season, but none are yet to do it on a consistent basis at Villa Park, leaving Garde convinced that he must find a goalscorer that can lead his side out of the bottom three.
Englishman has Premier League pedigree
Austin is certainly capable in that department, having scored 18 goals in 36 games for top-flight QPR, only to see them relegated under Chris Ramsey.
That form made him a wanted man during last summer's transfer window, with the likes of Everton, West Ham United, Newcastle United and even Villa themselves being linked with a move for his services.
However, the London side managed to keep hold of their man, mainly due to their steep asking price of £15million, and promises of getting back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Austin holds the cards, but will he play his hand?
This doesn't seem to be happening, with Rangers finding themselves in 13th place in the Championship, eight points of a play-off place, which itself may be considered as a disappointment.
Despite injury struggles, Austin has still done well, scoring seven goals in 12 games when able to contribute, and now has the bargaining chip of only having six months left on his contract, a factor which may see QPR drop their asking price drastically.
Whether or not he fancies a move to B6, would remain to be seen. If things didn't work out, and Villa were relegated, he'd have ended up where he began, having rejected the opportunity to choose from a whole host of suitors in the summer. On the other hand, a January move and a whole load of goals might just give him a chance of snatching a place in England's Euro 2016 squad.