View: Tim Iroegbunam still faces many hurdles before becoming Aston Villa first-team regular
Aston Villa have had plenty of academy stars light up the football league while on loan in recent years, and Tim Iroegbunam is no exception.
The combative midfielder has been a mainstay in QPR’s Championship promotion bid this season, making 22 starts and racking up over 1500 minutes of league action.
At just 19 years old, Iroegbunam is probably the most talked about academy graduate within the corridors of power at Villa Park, however, his future in the West Midlands is still up in the air after the emergence of Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara as Unai Emery’s first-choice midfield.
The England Under-20 international is a tall, imposing, and physically mature midfielder who enjoys sitting at the base of a midfield and dictating the tempo of the game. Although he has done this wonderfully under Michael Beale and, more recently, Neil Critchley at Loftus Road, he is still to face many roadblocks before starring on the Villa Park pitch.
The main question that remains on many Villa fans’ lips is, does he possess the quality to supplant Luiz or Kamara in the heart of Emery’s midfield, or will he have to spend further time plying his trade in the football league?
Right now, there are still a couple of areas that Iroegbunam could do with tidying up on before returning to Villa Park as a first-team regular. He is yet to score or create a single goal this season for QPR and must look to add a little attacking thrust to his game to match that of Luiz and Kamara.
Although showing himself to be brilliant in defence and the way he reads the game, he must look to add further strings to his bow by expanding his passing range and looking to take more chances on the ball.
There is nothing wrong with ticking play over at the base of midfield, but if he were to return under Emery, he would be tasked with taking the ball off the defence all game long and springing attacks from his deep-lying position.
Despite these tiny shortcomings in his game, it is still essential that Villa don’t mismanage the youngster, who could well be the brightest prospect to emerge from Bodymoor Heath since Jack Grealish.
Iroegunam currently finds himself in an awkward limbo, much like Cameron Archer, where he isn’t quite at the standard for regular first-team football, but it seems a waste to send him out on future loans.
To impose himself on proceedings at Villa Park, he must take note of what Emery will demand of him and look to implement these traits while on loan at the London club.
In other Aston Villa news, Carla Ward must find a contingency plan in case Rachel Daly gets injured for her women’s side this season.