Teenage Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey was the main focus of the most recent edition of The Next Big Thing podcast from The Athletic, which looks at some of the most exciting talents in the Premier League.
After spending some time on loan at Doncaster Rovers last season, Ramsey, who has made just seven senior appearances for Villa, was allegedly the subject of loan bids from ‘multiple Championship clubs’ before the domestic transfer window slammed shut earlier this month. However, the Villans rejected those loan bids, with Dean Smith reportedly planning to use the 19-year-old in a ‘key first-team role’ this term, according to Football Insider.
During this recent edition of The Next Big Thing podcast from The Athletic, Gregg Evans shed some light on what kind of player Ramsey is and suggested that the England U20 international shares some similarities with Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli.
The journalist said: “He’s an attacking-midfield player, somebody who likes to get forward, very, very comfortable on the ball, I suppose he would see himself as a number eight or potentially to be a number 10 in the future.
“He certainly plays as a number 10 for the U23 team and scored lots of goals coming through the ranks. I suppose the way he makes runs into the box is quite similar, really, to how Dele Alli was when he was progressing in his teenage years.”
Are you excited by what Evans had to say about Ramsey?
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TIF Thoughts on what Evans had to say about Ramsey…
Considering that Alli won the PFA Young Player of the Year award in both the 2015/16 campaign and the 2016/17 campaign, perhaps Villa fans won’t mind at all that Evans has claimed there are some stylistic similarities between him and their youth prospect – and if the journalist is right in making this comparison, then perhaps Villa fans will be hoping that he can also emulate the £46.8m-rated Spurs man’s progress in terms of quality.
Knowing that Smith reportedly intends to use him in his first-team squad this term, it would seem as though the Villa boss is positive about the player’s current level of ability, so it will be interesting to see how significant Ramsey’s role with the first team is this season and if he does earn even more comparisons to Alli.