Aston Villa have key decision to make on Kadan Young, talent too great to ignore

Aston Villa now possess a plethora of young talent in their academy right now and several of them are certainly ready for first-team exposure, but none more so than Kadan Young.

The teenager, who signed a first professional contract at Villa Park in January, has grown considerably over the past year for the Under-21s this season, netting three goals and providing seven assists from 14 appearances in all competitions.

After a strong start to last season, the 17-year-old was offered the chance to mix it with Unai Emery’s first team during their mid-season trip to Dubai, but since then, he has featured in the Spaniard’s first-team match-day squad just once.

The left-winger enjoyed an impressive season last term, which saw him sign his first professional contract with the club in January, and take part in first-team training at times this season under Emery.

And his extraordinary talents and maturity haven’t gone unnoticed at international level too, with England Under-17 manager Ryan Garry, naming the Villa starlet alongside the likes of Archie Gray, Tyler Dibling and Leon Chiwome for the UEFA U17 Euro Finals in Hungary.

Young, unfortunately, didn’t feature for the England Under-17 side, but again his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed and the youngster will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jacob Ramsey, his brother Aaron, Jaden Philogene and Lamare Bogarde in making a name for themselves at first-team level at Villa Park or elsewhere.

However, wherever he ends up for the forthcoming campaign, Young is certainly on his way to future stardom and the only way that can happen is if Aston Villa provide him with the perfect conditions and environment to develop and hone his stunning craft.

Praised as being a “great reflection of hard work” by Academy manager Mark Harrison, the 17-year-old appeared on the bench for the senior team last season, as well as playing a strong role in pre-season last summer.

Given his rise over the past few months, it shouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility that Young could feature more prominently at Villa Park next season or even taste a fruitful loan spell like Aaron Ramsey, Philogene and Bogarde did last season.

However, with Emery expected to enter the summer transfer window with a healthy war chest, a loan move into the English Football League could be in the offing instead.

Young has highlighted his ability to mix it with some of the best players in Europe and those talents are always welcome in the English Football League, an incredible hub for young teenagers to make the grade.

It seems as though Young has an extremely bright future at Villa Park, and considering this latest vote of confidence by the national set-up, it seems like he is ready to ply his trade in either League Two or League One next season.

Or why not a smaller Championship side?

There would certainly be several suitors for the teenage winger right now, so Aston Villa must take considerable care in plotting the next steps of his fledgling young career carefully.