Aston Villa are reportedly set to land the signature of talented youngster Rico Richards on a free transfer, after his exit from West Brom this summer.
A key part of Villa’s strategy for long-term sustainability and competitiveness is to continue to develop and recruit top young talent through our Academy, as has been the case in recent years.
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Aside from our 2021 FA Youth Cup success, we secured a substantial transfer fee for Carney Chukwuemeka, and as a home-grown player, that is a significant boost from a financial perspective.
Ideally though, we’ll continue to see young players follow in the footsteps of Jacob Ramsey in making a breakthrough at senior level and becoming key figures in our side, with Cameron Archer and Tim Iroegbunam hopefully set to join that list in the upcoming campaign.
In turn, Richards could be one of the top hopes moving forward, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that Villa have completed a deal to sign the former West Brom talent on a free transfer, and he’ll sign a two-year contract with us after reaching an agreement on terms.
The 19-year-old operates as an attacking midfielder with the ability to play wide if needed too, and through various competitions at both youth and senior level, he has scored 17 goals and provided 10 assists in 79 appearances.
Should the deal be announced as expected, his first objective will be to help our U21s side be as competitive as possible in the upcoming campaign, and just as we saw with Kadan Young, Tommi O’Reilly and others last season, Emery has shown an openness to including our youngsters on the bench.
Ultimately though, with Villa expected to be busy this summer in strengthening the Spaniard’s squad, that could make it more difficult for our young talents to get a look in, and so time will tell what the plan for Richards will be.
It seems likely that Villa will sign him and keep him in-house initially to help develop his game, with a loan stint elsewhere perhaps to follow next year to help him gain experience at a higher level.
With Young, O’Reilly, Aaron Ramsey, Finn Azaz, Seb Revan, Josh Feeney, Lamare Bogarde and others all perhaps in a similar situation, there will be some key decisions ahead to ensure we pick solutions that are best for all concerned.