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Jacob Ramsey follows in footsteps of Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford as Aston Villa gem scoops prestigious award
Jacob Ramsey has been rewarded for his standout season at Aston Villa with a Premier League award that the likes of Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Trent Alexander-Arnold have previously won.
Ramsey, 21, has proven himself an integral cog in the remarkable turnaround under Unai Emery in recent months, playing a part in 34 of Villa’s 37 Premier League games and amassing 11 goal contributions from midfield.
On Tuesday (23 May), the Villa youngster was named the winner of the Premier League’s 2022/23 Academy Graduate Award – a prize that the aforementioned England trio, along with names such as Mason Mount have won in previous years.
Scooping up this award was fully justified for the England Under-21 captain after taking huge strides in his game this season.
According to the Opta-powered stats on FBREF, Ramsey looks to be one of the most-rounded midfielders in the Premier League, sitting in the top 20% of his counterparts for goals (0.21 per 90) and assists (0.18 per 90) as well as non-penalty goals.
Season on season, the academy graduate has improved his goalscoring output, and under Emery, he has popped up with key goals at key times – including an impressive strike against Newcastle and the opening goal against Liverpool last weekend.
In the 2020/21 season, Ramsey failed to produce a single goal contribution from 22 appearances, in 2021/22, he netted six goals and provided one assist, but this season has been by far his most productive, amassing six goals and a further five assists. [Transfermarkt]
However, it is not just his output on the ball that has impressed this campaign, with the Englishman successfully completing the most tackles out of any Aston Villa player this season (68) and sitting 24th in the overall Premier League standings. [Premier League]
This is four more than John McGinn (64) and 12 above Boubacar Kamara’s total of 56 tackles – albeit from significantly fewer appearances due to several injuries.
Out of every Premier League midfielder this season, Ramsey sits in an impressive 80th percentile for dribblers tackled (1.13 per 90) and one better dribbler’s challenges (2.44 per 90).
The Aston Villa academy graduate looks to have ironed out the flaws in his game under the guidance of Emery this season, and he now looks ready to follow in the footsteps of Rashford, Saka and Alexander-Arnold and make his ascension into the England first-team fold.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery might be forced to sell this three-pass Aston Villa player after his poor performance against Liverpool.