Aston Villa youth stars set for Gerrard boost after Norwich win - pundit

By Frank McAvennie

15th Dec, 2021 | 5:40pm

The 'next Jack Grealish' is already at Aston Villa as pundit makes 'amazing' claim

Steven Gerrard is the man to uncover the ‘next Jack Grealish at Aston Villa.

That’s according to former Villa hitman Frank McAvennie, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, after some dazzling youth performances in midweek.

Jacob Ramsey, 20 and, Carney Chukwuemeka, 18, both played key roles as Villa beat Norwich 2-0 on Tuesday (14 December).

Ramsey scored Villa’s first while Chukwuemeka provided the assist for his side’s second goal.

McAvennie expects more young stars will be given a chance under Gerrard after watching him develop talents at Rangers.

“The will be a rise in young talents at Villa,” McAvennie told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.

“With Gerrard and McAllister there, they know a player when they see one. We saw that at Rangers.

“It makes sense and it makes sense to Gerrard. He came in young, he had that chance.

“Look at what he was doing in his late teens and his early 20s. He knows there are players out there who are capable of making that step up.

“They might have to wait for their chance but they will get it. That is a really exciting and amazing thing.

“If they are good enough they will get a chance. We saw that the other night and those players backed him up.

“That next Jack Grealish is probably there, in the youth ranks somewhere.

“Gerrard has had a wonderful start to life at Villa, long may it continue.

“Villa deserve to be up there with a manager like Gerrard. He will make the right decisions and give chances to those players.”

Ramsey has made 43 total appearances for Villa.

Chukwuemeka only has eight appearances for the club to his name.

In other news, an ex-Premier League official has blasted ‘pathetic’ chiefs over an Aston Villa controversy.