Aston Villa's former West Brom loan flop eyed by Championship rivals on permanent transfer
The Villa man has Championship interest once again this summer
Villa’s former Albion loanee Lewis Dobbin is once again subject of Championship interest this summer.
Attacker Dobbin, 23, caught the eye with an impressive loan spell at Preston in the second tier last season.
It was the Villa man’s standout campaign to date after previous loans at Albion and Norwich.
Dobbin, who mostly plays on the left side, badly struggled in half a season at The Hawthorns and started just one Championship fixture. He was a substitute on another 16 occasions in 2024 and failed to score for the club.
He spent the second half of that campaign with Norwich and fared better with two goals in 10 league outings.
Albion have taken two loan attackers from Villa in as many seasons, but both Dobbin and Samuel Iling-Junior failed to hit it off in the Black Country.
But Dobbin’s 11-goal spell at the Lilywhites last season has cranked up the attention on Villa’s former Everton youngster, who moved from Merseyside for £10million in the summer of 2024.
Beaten Championship play-off finalists Middlesbrough are interested in a permanent transfer for Dobbin this summer.
The Teessiders were keen in January and tried to make a move for Dobbin to aid their play-off push, but the former England youth international, who hails from Stoke, remained at Deepdale.
Dobbin chipped in with eight assists as well as 11 goals last term to put him among the Championship’s most productive attackers for goal involvements.
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg’s interest has not gone away and Boro are set to peruse the winger’s permanent signature this summer for another tilt at promotion to the Premier League.