Aston Villa Women bring young goalkeeper in and let promotion hero go
Aston Villa Women have signed promising young goalkeeper Anna Leat from West Ham, while Sian Rogers has headed to Charlton on loan.
Rogers was Villa’s starting ‘keeper during their promotion campaign in the 2019/20 season but lost her place to Lisa Weiss and later Hannah Hampton.
Villa have chosen to loan her out to Championship outfit Charlton and bring 21-year-old Leat in on a permanent deal from West Ham, with both moves being announced on Wednesday morning (13 July) via the club’s website.
Leat becomes Villa’s fifth summer signing so far following her promising debut campaign with The Irons, making four appearances for Oli Harder’s side.
Villa now have two of the brightest young goalkeepers in the country in Leat and Hampton, with the pair set to battle it out for the starting berth.
Leat profiles
It cannot be overstated just how impressive Leat is for such a young player.
Despite making her senior club debut in January, she made her debut for New Zealand all the way back in 2017 when she was just 16 years old.
She kept two clean sheets across her four appearances, against Birmingham City and Everton, and held her own brilliantly when thrown in for her debut against rivals Tottenham.
Stacking her per 90 minutes stats up against Hampton’s is favourable for Leat, with the former Irons star conceding less goals,, fewer shots on target, against and making more saves (FBRef).
Leat also has a much higher save percentage of 90% compared to Hampton’s 69.2%, which is comparable to the likes of Ellie Roebuck and Manuela Zinsberger.
While a lot of the stats can be put down to less gametime and will level out over time, they are still very impressive for such a young goalkeeper.
If Leat maintains her form, then Hampton will have a battle to keep her starting spot next season.In other Aston Villa news, two young stars have headed out on League One loans.