Aston Villa loanee Josh Onomah has cast doubt on his long-term future at the club after he voiced his desire to break into Tottenham’s first-team.
Onomah completed a loan move to Villa Park in the summer after impressing as England U-20s won the World Cup, and the club have made no secret of their desire to extend his loan to a second season or even buy him permanently.
The 20-year-old has been deployed in his more natural position by Bruce, occupying a central attacking midfield position as Villa push for promotion back to the big time.
Onomah has played 16 times in the league for Villa this season, scoring three goals as the Birmingham club sit fourth in the Championship.
The youngster was widely expected to break into the first-team picture in north London this season, but instead was loaned to Villa to get more game time.
Despite this, Onomah still wants to return to Spurs and force his way into Pochettino’s plans.
As quoted by the Express, he said: “Obviously I want to do well here and help Villa get promoted, then go back to my parent club and get back in the team.
“There is a lot of competition but that is football for you. You have to take it on board.
“Promotion is the aim now at Villa. We believed from the start of the season with the players we had, the staff we had. We believed we could get promoted. We are just taking every game as it comes and hopefully come May we are where we want to be.”
OPINION
The talented midfielder has long been regarded as a top prospect at Tottenham, but has had his appearances limited to cameos on the wing for Mauricio Pochettino. While his loan to Villa may be interpreted negatively, Onomah is still quite obviously seen as a top prospect for Spurs. His regular appearances for Villa this season will mean he can return to Spurs having developed his game to a new level, and should slot seamlessly into the squad. Pochettino is not one to miss out on a young talent, and it is pretty certain that the loan was all part of his big plans for Onomah at Spurs.