Who is James Wright? The surprise name in Aston Villa's Champions League squad
James Wright was the only unfamiliar name in Aston Villa's Champions League squad.
Unai Emery has named his 23-man squad for the league phase of Europe's elite competition.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis, the new £30million man missed out, but academy star Wright is in.
The Villans were only allowed to name 23 players rather than the usual 25 on their A-list, as a result of only having two "club-trained" players in the squad.
Wright is one of those, as is Lamare Bogarde, who is also named in the submission to UEFA.
Aston Villa News looks at Wright's rise to stardom, and whether the surprise name in the ranks could actually feature.
Who is James Wright as Champions League spot handed out
Wright has been at Villa since 2020 after joining from Manchester City's youth set-up.
The 21-year-old signed a first professional contract in July 2022, and followed that up with another new deal in 2024.
After he signed that deal, academy manager Mark Harrison said that "there is no doubt his development has flourished."
In the 2023-24 season, he featured in several matchday squads, then went out on loan with Real Union in Spain, making 33 appearances in the 2024-25 campaign.
He was part of the Europa League squad last season and was on the bench from the league phase clash with Basel onwards, but he is yet to make his debut.
Will Wright make his debut in Aston Villa's Champions League campaign?
He played just two Premier League 2 matches last season, conceding four goals, with one clean sheet.
Wright averaged 5.50 saves per 90 minutes, and recorded a save percentage of 73.3 per cent, while making no errors leading to goals, according to Fotmob data.
In terms of his passing, he completed 73.7 per cent, but had a long pass accuracy of 35.3 per cent.
Those figures may leave concern for Emery, as he likes his goalkeeper to be able to play out from the back.
It is unlikely that he actually features, but with the potential for injuries to Zion Suzuki and Marco Bizot, stranger things have happened.
If he was not ready, he would not have been named in the squad, so perhaps he could make his debut for the B6 club in the near future.
He may be Emery's unexpected Champions League hero.