Report: Leeds and Aston Villa to battle for Brentford’s Rico Henry, Brighton also in the race

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Leeds United will battle Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion to sign Brentford full-back, Rico Henry, according to a report from the Sun.

The report claims it is Brighton who are the most advanced in terms of making a bid but both Leeds and Villa are believed to have registered an interest in Henry as well.

The 23-year-old, who can play anywhere up the left-hand side but was used by Thomas Frank as an attacking full-back, played in all 46 of the Bees’ Championship games last term before seeing his side come up short at Wembley against Fulham.

Brentford could lose a number of top players this summer. Along with Henry, the likes of Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma are both said to be on their way to Premier League clubs.

Dean Smith will know Henry well from their time together previously, while Leeds are still in the hunt for new players following promotion.

Brighton, on the other hand, has steadily gone about their business so far this summer. Indeed, they’ve tied Lewis Dunk down to a new deal while they’ve also resisted bids for Ben White so far.

Watkins and Benrahma get the headlines but Henry is a class act – TBR View

Henry seems to go under the radar given how good the attacking players are at Brentford but he has been a model of consistency and excellence in the last 18 months especially.

It’s little surprise, then, to see a number of clubs in for him. Villa could already lose Matt Targett to Leicester, while Leeds are simply looking to add quality and depth to their squad.

Given how Henry plays, you’d have to assume he’d fit right in with Marcelo Bielsa’s attacking formation at Elland Road.