Aston Villa now face difficult Samuel Iling-Junior transfer decision – here’s exactly why
Samuel Iling-Junior’s move to Aston Villa hasn’t worked out for him so far.
The 22-year-old was signed by Aston Villa in the summer of 2024, joining in a reported £11.8million deal from Serie A giants Juventus.
Iling-Junior‘s move to Villa Park was part of a wider piece of business between Juventus and Villa, which saw Douglas Luiz sign for the Turin-based outfit the day before in a £42.35m deal.
Only 20 at the time, the England youth international had already racked up 45 first-team appearances for Juve, showing just how much highly-rated he was and how much potential resides in his boots.
Why Aston Villa may want to keep Samuel Iling-Junior
Iling-Junior is yet to make a single competitive appearance for Aston Villa, with his Villans career so far exclusively being made up of loan moves away.
Bologna and Middlesbrough both sampled his services last season, where he made 16 appearances for each of those sides, scoring twice for the former and once for the latter respectively.
The versatile wide player was then shipped out to local Midlands rivals West Brom for the first half of this term, where he made 24 appearances and providing one goal, before being recalled from The Hawthorns this winter.
He’s now lending his talents to Italian Serie A side Pisa, but he’s not enjoyed a particularly fruitful start with them, having so far underwhelmed in his opening cameos
As such, he looks some way off being at a level to contend for a regular first-team role for Aston Villa, and so their may be a conversation to be had this summer in terms of whether to cut their losses on him.
However, they may be wise to hold their nerve with Iling-Junior, as he penned a five-year contract with Villa upon signing in 2024, meaning he’s contracted in B6 until the summer of 2029.
That affords both parties plenty of time to continue seeking loan opportunities, and then if something eventually clicks for him elsewhere, he could still hand Villa the chance to bank a sizeable fee on him.
Had he been out of contract or only had a further 12 months left to run on his deal, then moving him on this summer may well have been the pragmatic choice, but his contract certainly creates an intriguing dilemma.
Iling-Junior’s versatility could also save his Villa future
One major problem Unai Emery has faced as Aston Villa manager this season is his lack of squad depth, with numerous injuries stretching his options thin.
Iling-Junior is a real Swiss Army Knife-type player, capable of operating in defence, midfield and in attack.
Whether it’s as a traditional left-back or attacking wing-back, a left or right winger or even as a striker, the Englishman can operate in all of those roles.
Therefore, as well as being a homegrown player for Premier League quota purposes, Emery may yet view his versatility as a valuable commodity in his side moving forward.
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