Aston Villa have confirmed that Arjan Raikhy has joined Stockport County on loan for the season in the next stage of his development.
The 18-year-old midfielder was a key figure in the side that went on to win the FA Youth Cup last year, producing some classy and elegant performances in the middle of the pitch to lead the way.
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As per the club’s official site, he’ll now gain valuable playing time and experience at Stockport this season, where he will hope to cement his place in the starting XI and play week in and week out over the course of the campaign.
Raikhy joins a number of his fellow young teammates at Villa going out on loan, with the likes of Kaine Kesler, Louie Barry and Brad Young all sealing moves around the Football League in recent weeks.
It’s a smart strategy from Villa as they will likely struggle to get the minutes needed at this stage of their respective careers to really kick on and develop their game.
Instead, they’ll go out and hopefully be better for the experience, with the ultimate aim still being to break into the senior Villa side further down the line.
It would appear as though Carney Chukwuemeka and Jaden Philogene-Bidace are the two Academy products that will get a chance to impress Dean Smith this season, but there will hopefully be plenty of others joining them next year, including Raikhy, as we look to continue to produce real talent through our youth ranks.