Bristol City may have cashed in on Lloyd Kelly but they may have also inadvertently handed Aston Villa a huge transfer boost.
The Robins sold Kelly to Bournemouth for a club record fee as the 20-year-old sealed his life-long dream of moving to a Premier League club.
Yet by doing that, the Robins may well have boosted Villa's chances of keeping hold of one of their most impressive loan players this season.
Kelly's arrival at the Cherries adds even more defensive competition for Tyrone Mings, who has been superb on loan at Villa Park since joining in January.
It means Villa may well stand a better chance of keeping hold of the defender who has helped them to the play-off final.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe has said in recent weeks that he is set to sit down with Mings to discuss his future on the south coast.
“I will sit down with Tyrone at the end of the season and we will discuss the next step," he told The Bournemouth Echo.
“I have been in regular contact with him throughout his loan period. The most important thing now is he concentrates on Aston Villa and tries to help them get promotion and then we will see.”
