Aston Villa gem Kadan Young shows shades of Gabby Agbonlahor on England youth stage
Aston Villa have invested millions in their Bodymoor Heath academy over the last few years, and they are starting to reap the rewards through the emergence of stars such as Kadan Young.
The 17-year-old winger burst onto the scene at Villa Park last season, rising the ranks of the academy set-up and even featuring on the bench for Unai Emery’s first team at stages.
Young already showed shades of former Aston Villa speedster Gabby Agbonlahor during his brief cameo against Chelsea in the mid-season trip to Dubai, when he embarrassed £60million full-back Marc Cucurella with his devilish speed and trickery.
And the gem has taken his fruitful club form onto the international stage, helping the England Under-17s qualify for the World Cup in a crunch playoff victory over Switzerland.
The academy starlet was named on the bench for Ryan Garry’s side, but with the match delicately poised at 2-2 in the closing stages, Young was called upon, and he made a sizeable impact in just 30 minutes of action.
His sensational assist was a move plucked right out of the Agbonlahor playbook, dribbling 30 yards with the ball down the left wing before bringing his opposite man to a halt, backheeling the ball past him and pulling it back for Michael Heinz Golding to tap home.
Less than ten minutes, Young deservedly got his name on the scoresheet with a well-taken volley at the back post, which sealed the Under-17s their place in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
The teenager’s rapid rise has come as somewhat of a surprise given his glaring lack of experience, but if this is what Aston Villa are getting so early in his career, there should be exciting times to come.
The next move in Young’s career is going to be an extremely important step, with a loan move into the EFL in the offing or another year with the Young Lions at Bodymoor Heath also possible.
Either way, in a short space of time, Young has cemented himself as one of the most highly-touted attackers to come through the academy since Agbonlahor.
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