Aston Villa have officially announced that youngster Seb Revan has joined Grimsby Town on a season-long loan deal as he looks to gain experience.
Revan, 18, has impressed at youth level at Villa and was a big part of the side’s success in the FA Youth Cup.
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However, with opportunities in the first-team hard to come by this year given the experienced and high-quality options that Dean Smith has in defence, it seems like a sensible decision to send him out on loan to play regularly, develop his game and return to Villa a better player next summer.
As per the club’s official site, Revan has joined for the season, although it’s added that there is an option included whereby Villa can recall him in January if needed.
He will join a Grimsby side looking to secure an immediate return to the Football League this season, and so he’ll no doubt hope to play a pivotal role in their side to achieve their objective.
For Villa and Smith, they will hope that he can stay clear of injuries, get a full season of playing significant minutes under his belt and learn from the experience to potentially set him up to be a key part of the senior squad in the long term.
Time will tell if that happens, but for now, it is arguably the right move for all concerned and Revan won’t be the only talented youngster that Villa might decide to loan out due to similar reasons with a number of starlets still trying to impress in pre-season to earn the chance to stay this year.