Aston Villa have confirmed that Omari Kellyman has signed a new contract to secure his long-term future at the club.
The 18-year-old joined Villa from Derby County in March 2022, and has gone on to impress at youth level for us, while making his debut for the first-team in our Europa Conference League qualifying round earlier this season.
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Kellyman has continued to stand out in a relatively short space of time given his ability and potential, and there is growing excitement and optimism around his future, given the expectation that he can improve and develop into a top player.
In turn, it was crucial that Villa secured his long-term future with a new deal, and as per the club’s statement, the talented youngster has now put pen to paper on fresh terms.
It doesn’t add any further detail, but according to The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, it has been reported that it’s a new five-year contract.
The long-term hope is that Kellyman has a successful future ahead in a Villa shirt, but it will be fascinating to see how the club handles his more immediate development.
While he continues to knock on the door for opportunities at senior level, he will largely feature for the U21s this season, while a decision could be made next summer on whether or not a loan move would help him through the next phase of his career.
Beyond that, Villa will hope to fully integrate him into Unai Emery’s senior squad, and the Spanish tactician seemingly is impressed with what he’s seen of the youngster thus far, having named him on his bench in the Premier League on multiple occasions while giving him that chance in Europe.
Time will tell if Villa ultimately end up cashing in on another top talent having seen the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Cameron Archer and Jaden Philogene move on this past summer but with buy-back clauses included in their deals, but much like Jacob Ramsey, it would of course be ideal if we see Kellyman make the cut and thrive for us in the coming years.