Aston Villa have confirmed that Cameron Archer has joined Middlesbrough on loan for the rest of the season in what is a sensible move for the youngster.
As confirmed in a club statement, Archer will spend the rest of the campaign on loan with Middlesbrough, who are currently in fifth place in the Championship table and pushing for promotion.
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While there was optimism and excitement after the decision was made last summer to keep him in the squad rather than loan him out again, it unfortunately hasn’t worked out for the 21-year-old as he would have liked, having totalled just 52 minutes of football so far this season.
That in turn makes the decision to loan him out now the right one, as he simply needs to play, gain experience and develop his all-round game at a good level at this stage of his career, and that is hopefully what he’ll now get under Michael Carrick at Middlesbrough.
As we’ve seen when he’s featured at youth level for us and during his loan stint with Preston North End last season, Archer is a real talent with a big future ahead of him, and so it’s hoped that this latest temporary switch away is the springboard for him to really stake a claim in Unai Emery’s future plans.
With Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings ahead of him in the pecking order at Villa, coupled with Leon Bailey being used up front too since Emery arrived, his situation was unlikely to change in the coming months, and so this is the sensible decision for all concerned.
It’s now hoped that Middlesbrough are the right landing spot for him and he does indeed get a significant role there, and Emery will no doubt assess his options and the crop of youngsters who will return from loan spells in the summer to determine who forms part of his plans moving forward.