Aaron Collins’ star continues to grow on the national stage as the Bristol Rovers forward has been named the third best player in League One and the 24th overall across the EFL.
FourFourTwo magazine has released its annual ‘Best 50 Players in the EFL’, voted for by readers, and Collins is only beaten in the rankings by former Rovers striker Jonson Clarke-Harris, now of Peterborough United, (No21) and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan (No18) in terms of his peers in the third tier.
The Welshman has enjoyed an outstanding campaign for the Gas in his first season in League One, scoring 15 goals and assisting a further 11 assists in 37 appearances in the division, only Middlesbrough’s Chuba Akpom (25 goals, two assists) and Andy Cook of Bradford City (26 goals, six assists) have exceeded his goal involvements outside the Premier League. He does, however, remain the only individual in the EFL with the double-double of at least 10 goals and 10 assists.
Collins’ form has cooled over the last three months but with nine games of the season left, he remains in with a good chance of reaching 20 goals.
In their write-up for Collins, FourFourTwo state: “Step up? What step up? After representing six teams in League Two, Collins has been effortlessly brilliant in his first stab at League One - quick, creative and clinical.”
The Newport-born frontman still has more than two years to run on his Rovers contract but his future in north Bristol remains uncertain heading into the summer following his prolific campaign.
A number of Championship clubs have been regularly scouting Collins who’s excelled at League One and League Two level and a step up the pyramid appears a natural progression. Plus his omission from the last two Wales squad may cause the No10 to consider what’s best for his international prospects.
A sizable sale would be beneficial to the Gas and their own summer recruitment drive as Joey Barton will be keen to mount a promotion challenge next season having fancied their chances leading into the January window, albeit with Collins’ goals proving crucial to that rise up the table.
In more business-like terms, Rovers’ annual losses of £3.7m for the 2021/22 season, as revealed on Tuesday, have put into sharp context the need to significantly raise transfer revenue to avoid a similar figure for this campaign.
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