Aston Villa have confirmed that young defender Josh Feeney has joined Shrewsbury Town on loan for the upcoming season.
The 19-year-old was part of Unai Emery’s squad this pre-season, as he travelled with the senior side to the USA and got valuable playing time to continue his development.
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However, although he made a positive impression, it was clear that he still lacks crucial experience at senior level to be a key option at this stage in his career, and so Villa have made another sensible decision with a loan exit.
As per the club’s official statement, Feeney has joined Shrewsbury on loan, and so it’s hoped that it proves to be a vital learning experience for him to further his development and improve as a player.
With the expectation that he would either be on the bench in the senior matchday squad for the majority of the campaign or back playing at youth level, it arguably made no sense to keep him at Villa this season with the options ahead of him in the pecking order.
Instead, he now gets a chance to play at a higher lever on a regular basis to challenge himself, as Feeney undoubtedly needs to play consistently to gain the experience he needs to build on his potential, and hopefully this stint at Shrewsbury will give him that opportunity.
Time will tell if he will eventually go on to convince Emery that he is capable of being a part of his squad in the long run, or if Villa go down an alternative route and look to offload him for a profit off the back of a positive loan stint.
That will be a decision for Emery and the management team next summer, but it’s certainly in the best interests of all concerned that Feeney has a positive spell with Shrewsbury this year as a first step, as that will set the foundation for his future whichever way it goes, as he looks to have a promising career ahead of him.
