View: Aston Villa should look at Darius Vassell example when choosing future path for Cameron Archer
Aston Villa academy graduate Cameron Archer has hit the ground running since moving to Middlesbrough in the January transfer window, but his future at Villa Park still remains a mystery.
Chances and opportunities have been hard to come by for the 21-year-old over the last 18 months, and some within the confines of Villa Park may now be watching on in envy at the immediate impact he has made for Michael Carrick’s side in recent weeks.
The decision to sanction Archer’s exit in the winter window was met with murmurs of discontent from within the Villa fanbase, with his and Danny Ings’ departures leaving Unai Emery short-staffed in attack for the remainder of the Premier League season.
Since donning the Boro kit in the last month, Archer has sent chins wagging with three goals and provided a further two assists from just seven appearances.
At every level the England Under-21s striker has played at in his short career, be that with the Villa academy, on loan at Preston North End, or even in his brief stint with the first team, he has never failed to score goals.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, The Atheltic’s Dan Bardell suggested that the club should look back at the faith placed in former player Darius Vassell when considering the future of Archer at Villa Park.
“I remember back when John Gregory was the manager of Aston Villa, he said to Darius Vassell – a young player who had had an impact off the bench and done well for Villa – ‘whatever happens, you will start the first five or six games of the season’, and Vassell went out there, got some goals and became a mainstay in the Villa team.
“Villa almost need to do that with Cameron Archer. I think at the start of next season Emery needs to put some faith in him if they are going to keep him around, and if they’re not, they either need to sell him or give him a season on loan somewhere.
“But the trouble is, once you’ve had a taste of playing every week, like Archer’s having at the moment under Michael Carrick, you don’t want to come back and be a bit-part player in the Premier League, you want to be playing every week.
“Either way, Villa need to make a firm decision on Archer and where his future lies.”
Despite Archer’s recent antics in the Championship, his path to first-team is littered with potential complications. Although the club currently only have Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran to call upon as natural strikers in the first-team squad, Emery has been touted with moves for a number of Europe’s top forwards this summer.
The likes of Tammy Abraham [90min, 18 February] and Nico Williams [Daily Mail, 9 February] have already been linked with blockbuster moves to Villa Park, and any personnel of this standard would almost certainly be ahead of Archer in the pecking order.
Additionally, the signing of 19-year-old Duran has proven to be another direct roadblock to Archer’s hopes of first-team football, with the Colombian forward likely to be a regular feature in the West Midlands for some years to come.
Where the Villa’s academy graduate ends up plying his trade beyond this season is still questionable, but if the lesson of Vassell has told the club anything, it is to place faith in Archer and give him the opportunity to thrive on the big stage.
In other Aston Villa news, Unai Emery has blocked the development of one academy star with his post-January treatment.