Aston Villa have reportedly agreed on a deal with Everton over the exit of Tim Iroegbunam, in a deal said to be worth around £9m.
The 20-year-old arrived at the club in July 2021 and after impressing at youth level and during his loan spell at QPR in the 2022/23 campaign, he went on to become a consistent figure in the senior squad.
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However, opportunities to play were hard to come by for Iroegbunam last season as he made just 15 appearances across all competitions, and now it appears as though he’ll be moving on this summer.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Villa have reached an agreement with Everton over his transfer, and we’ll receive around £9m once he has completed the formalities of his move, including his medical.
On one hand, it’s disappointing to lose Iroegbunam given he has real potential and a bright future ahead of him based on his talent level, and it remains to be seen what we miss out on in the long term now that he’s heading for an exit to another Premier League club.
That said, despite our injuries and suspensions last season which exposed our lack of depth in central midfield, his chances to impress were still limited under Unai Emery, and so the Villa boss has seemingly decided that we can upgrade and improve the squad with a reshuffle in that department this summer.
There is great trust in Emery’s judgement, and so having failed to make his mark last year and cement his place in the squad, it looks as though Villa are ready to make changes and cash in on Iroegbunam, which will also likely be an important boost for our PSR position too given the profit on an Academy product.
It looks like another smart piece of business from Villa, but ultimately it remains to be seen if the squad is in a stronger state come the end of the transfer window before we can make final assessments.