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da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…
There was a surprise name on the bench for Aston Villa’s Carabao Cup tie with Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday evening as young prospect Cameron Archer claimed a place.
He was even given a little eight-minute run out with the game at 5-0.
Villa have somewhat a striker crisis with club-record signing Wesley being the only senior option available. Although he didn’t feature, Keinan Davis did – the young striker netted his fourth goal for the club in 46 appearances, which isn’t the greatest of returns.
Jonathan Kodjia is currently on the sidelines with an ankle problem whilst Scott Hogan and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy are both out on loan at Stoke City and Tranmere Rovers respectively.
This has opened up the door for the young prospect to make his mark on Villa boss Dean Smith with a scenario where he needs to be called upon not completely out of the realms of possibility.
He began training with the west Midlands club from the age of six, Birmingham Mail describes his football skills at the time as ‘far superior to other children his age.’
It is believed he is one of the most highly-rated youngsters at the club and they do have an abundance of talent coming through with Jacob Ramsey and Callum O’Hare often being spoken about in the same bracket.
The 18-year-old has been brought into the U23 squad and very quickly became their leading number nine.
He’s only netted three goals in nine appearances in Premier League 2 but it’s a promising start for a player who will now look to capitalise on Villa reaching the next round of the League Cup.
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One game, in particular, stood out and that was a 1-0 victory over Wolves where he ran them ragged. His performance was described as ‘extremely bright throughout.’
Having had the opportunity to impress Smith in training, the young star was rewarded with a place on the bench on Tuesday night so it’s clear to see the manager is keen to have prospects come up through the academy.
Villa’s academy seems a far cry from the team that won the NextGen tournament in April 2013 but with players like Archer, they are certainly back on the right track.
Following his cameo against Crewe, it wouldn’t be a great surprise if he was handed another opportunity.
After all, Villa’s desire to be a young and exciting team has been documented by Christian Purslow in the past. Archer certainly fits that profile.
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