Aston Villa may keep three rising youth stars for the first team next season – Steven Gerrard
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard has revealed that the club may keep Cameron Archer, Kaine Kesler Hayden and Tim Iroegbunam around for next season.
Archer scored the winning goal in Villa’s narrow friendly win over A-League side Brisbane Roar on Wednesday morning (20 July), his second goal in just 90 minutes of football this summer.
Kesler Hayden got the assist for the goal and Iroegbunam also impressed in Townsville, with Gerrard telling the Birmingham Mail that he may keep all three for the first team next season.
“Tim played with discipline, I was delighted with Tim. He’s really given me something to think about, whether to keep him in or not,” he said.
“I’ll make a decision extremely late on that, but if I was under pressure now he would be in.
“Again, with Cam [Archer] if you don’t let me leave the room and I’d have to make a decision right now, he’d be staying in the door.
What should Villa do?
Transfer talk around Villa has cooled over recent weeks, with most talk now being around outgoings.
However, the Express & Star reported on Wednesday (20 July) that Villa are still searching for a midfielder, which could leave Iroegbunam short of minutes.
Villa already have a stacked midfield that Iroegbunam would struggle to break into, so adding another star on top of that would push him further down even if someone is sold.
A loan to the Championship would seem to be the best option for him, but the same cannot be said for the other two.
Villa are short at striker, currently having Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings who are struggling to work as a pair, giving Archer the perfect opportunity to break into the first team.
It is the same story at right-back, with Matty Cash and Frederic Guilbert being the only recognised players in that position.
As he is a more defensive player, Guilbert does not fit the system that Gerrard wants to play, giving Kesler Hayden the opening he needs.
Both players could be incredibly useful for Villa next season, so it makes sense to keep them around, while Iroegbunam needs the minutes to properly develop.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton has defended John McGinn after he faced backlash for injuring Archie Gray.