Aston Villa have ‘worked wonders’ as wonderkid signs for ‘record fee’ – Hutton
Aston Villa have “worked wonders” with their recent approach to youth development and recruitment.
That is according to ex-Villa Park favourite Alan Hutton, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after the club confirmed the signing of 15-year-old Kyrie Pierre.
The playmaker joined from Bristol Rovers for a fee that the selling club describes as a “record received by the Academy.”
Rovers’ previous record was £200,000 for Scott Sinclair in 2005, meaning Villa’s prodigious new recruit cost more than that six-figure sum.
The Athletic report that Villa have signed over 30 academy players across various age group over the past 12 months.
Hutton claims that Pierre’s signing is the latest in a long line of recent triumphs for Villa’s youth setup.
He told Football Insider assistant editor Russell Edge: “That’s what it’s all about. Louie Barry is another example. He cost a lot of money too.
“Of course they want to bring the best players through the academy but they’re not stopping there, they’re looking at all the best players around the country.
“They’ll bring in players from far and wide to develop them and make them better.
“They are looking to create a pathway into the first team. It must be amazing to be a youngster coming through.
“It just seems to me that for the first time in a long time that everything at the club is connected, from top to bottom.
“When do you ever see someone like Christian Purslow at an under-18s game? It very rarely happens but he’s taken a keen interest because he knows it’s going to help Villa moving forwards.
“If you look back over the years, yes, you’ve had one or two coming through, Jack Grealish, Gabby Agbonlahor, but then there was a long time when there wasn’t too many.
“They brought in Mark Harrison to be head of the academy and that has worked wonders.”
In other news, big update in Aston Villa pursuit of 15-goal EFL creative star.