View: Kadan Young has talent to go all the way as Aston Villa teen signs first professional contract
Seventeen-year-old sensation Kadan Young has signed his first professional contract with Aston Villa after a breakout season, the club has announced.
The winger has quickly become a shining star in the academy following his heroics for the Under-21 side this season and has subsequently been given several opportunities to impress by Unai Emery since his arrival.
Young made his first-team bow during the Peter Whittingham Memorial Match and followed this up with cameos from the bench against Brighton and Chelsea, during the first-team’s warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
He seemed to impress Emery during these brief appearances, having been named on the bench for Villa’s Boxing Day clash against Liverpool, as well as recent matches against Wolves and Leeds United.
Speaking after Young put pen to paper, Academy Manager Mark Harrison waxed lyrical about the steps the attacker had taken this term but has warned him to keep his feet on the ground and keep striving to make further progress. [AVFC, Friday 20 January]
He said: “Kadan has always shown potential which saw him play in our Under-21s at the age of 16 while he was a schoolboy and represent England as well.
“Seeing him involved with the first team recently also reflects his potential but he also knows there is much work to do and we look forward to seeing him continue his journey for many years.”
This is a brilliant piece of business by the Villa hierarchy, as it looks as though Young has the talent to go all the way.
Obviously, he is still extremely young and mustn’t be placed under too much pressure considering his age, but you can’t help but feel excited at this development, considering some of the talents that has emerged from Bodymoor Heath.
The likes of Cameron Archer, Jacob Ramsey and Carney Chukwuemuka have burst from the academy ranks in the past few years and looked at home either on loan in the Championship or, in Ramsey’s case, the Aston Villa first-team.
Of course, the big news of the week is the signing of Jhon Duran from Chicago Fire, but little snippets of transfer business such as this are equally important.
It is only a matter of time before the 17-year-old is sent out on loan in the football league, and fans will get a better understanding of the talent Young possesses when this happens.
Although it’s only early days, it looks like Villa have secured the future of the academy’s next great star.
In other Aston Villa news, this one first-team player could quickly become a fan-favourite after his brilliant performance against Leeds in the Premier League.