Aston Villa enter race for Man City's Nigerian striker Lukas Nmecha

The number of EFL Championship clubs interested in signing Manchester City's German-born striker of Nigerian descent, Lukas Nmecha, this month continues to grow.

The 19-year-old was omitted from the City squad that won the Community Shield on Sunday amid speculation linking him with a temporary departure from the Etihad Stadium.

Nmecha watched Aston Villa's 3-1 win at Hull City from the director's box on Monday, a strong hint that one of these teams want to add him to their squad, but going by the reaction of the coaches post-match, Villa presumably invited him to the KCOM Stadium.

Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce was quoted as saying by Chief football writer at the Press Association, Simon Peach : ''Lukas Nmecha was here was he today? If he fancies a game, fantastic. No problem".

Hull City boss Adkins volunteered more information, stating : ''He's not been brought to my attention by (head of recruitment) Lee Darnbrough, so maybe he's in with Aston Villa because I think they're going to sign a shed-load of players this week".

Swansea City, West Brom and Blackburn Rovers  are also chasing a loan deal for Lukas Nmecha, who is contracted to City until June 30, 2021.

The England U21 star was part of Manchester City's tour squad to America and started matches against Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool and Bayern Munich, scoring once.