Aston Villa continue worrying academy trend after Unai Emery decision on Tim Iroegbunam
A worrying Aston Villa academy trend is very much continuing into the January transfer window with Tim Iroegbunam now gearing up for an exit.
The Sunday Mirror journalist Darren Witcoop tweeted on 22 December that Villa are open to a permanent transfer for the 20-year-old.
He added that Queens Park Rangers, where the midfielder spent last season on loan, have added the England U-20 international to their list of targets ahead of the transfer window.
Birmingham Live journalist, John Townley (16 November) wrote in his Q&A article, that Iroegbunam will likely leave in the winter window, whether that’s a loan or a permanent deal and it seems as if Emery has made his decision on yet another incredibly gifted player.
The 19-year-old enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Queens Park Rangers last season, featuring in 32 Championship games and scoring two goals.
But that first-team exposure didn’t help his cause when he returned to Villa Park, with Iroegbunam yet to make an appearance under Emery despite being named on the bench on a few occasions this season.
Iroegbunam was involved in the matchday squad in the 3-1 win over Luton Town on 29th October and featured for the under-21s in the Football League trophy against Crawley Town in a 3-2 defeat (7 November) making a major impression.
As per SofaScore, the young English talent was a monster off the ball, winning a whopping 16 duels in his 90 minutes of action, recording 73 touches, completing 75% of his passes, recording two key passes, four dribbles and winning eight fouls in an eventful and dominant display.
Such a performance meant Iroegbunam could well have been gearing up for first-team chances under Emery but now that looks unlikely with the Villa Park gem now set to follow the likes of Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey and Jaden Philogene out the exit door.
Even with buy-back clauses inserted in each of their deals, fans will be raging at this decision given the amount of talent walking away from Aston Villa stardom and now Iroegbunam will be the latest to follow.
The QPR loan was his only real experience of playing senior football regularly and he was able to stand up to the physical test of the second tier with a ground duel success rate of 50% to go along with his multiple interventions each game.
With a decision now made on his immediate future at the club, Aston Villa must ensure that his next destination is the best route for him and his development in the long term.
However, seeing such another gifted young Villa Park academy talent leave the club certainly doesn’t smack of looking towards the future and it could well be that new Football president Monchi may well be gearing towards a different club model.
Whether it’s successful or not, remains to be seen.
In other Aston Villa news, one Premier League 2024 rule change could spell bad news for a big-money signing at Villa Park.