Aston Villa have confirmed that summer signing Lewis Dobbin has joined West Bromwich Albion on loan for the upcoming season.
The 21-year-old arrived from Everton at the end of June, and he has been part of Unai Emery’s squad for our pre-season schedule thus far, albeit with limited playing time.
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However, as per the club’s official statement, Dobbin has now joined the Baggies on loan for the season, and so it’s hoped that it proves to be a productive spell for him.
Ultimately from a Villa perspective, a temporary exit makes sense. With the competition for places and options ahead of him in the pecking order, Dobbin would have likely found playing time hard to come by this season, and although we do need depth, it wouldn’t have been beneficial for either party for him to spend most of the year on the bench.
With Ollie Watkins leading the line, Villa currently have both Jhon Duran and Cameron Archer as depth behind him, while the likes of Morgan Rogers, Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey and Emiliano Buendia are all battling for a starting berth to provide support in the final third.
Instead, his loan switch to West Brom now gives him an opportunity to play more regularly, gain experience and develop his game, all with the objective of returning to Villa an improved player next summer.
Time will tell what the long game is with Dobbin in terms of whether or not he is seen as a potential key player in Emery’s squad beyond this year, or if we’ll be open to selling him permanently off the back of a positive loan stint at the Hawthorns, if a profit can be made on him.
Either way, this is arguably the smart decision as things stand, and it will hopefully see him flourish with the Championship side to continue to improve and fulfil his potential.
It will be interesting to see what impact it has, if any, on Villa’s plans for the remainder of the summer transfer window, as with further loan exits expected for some of our top prospects, it may well be helping to clear space for further incomings to continue to strengthen Emery’s squad.