Aston Villa will suffer a “huge blow” if they are to lose young midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka on a free at the end of his contract next summer.
That is according to Pete O’Rourke, who was speaking to This is Futbol about the West Midlands side’s potential summer transfer business ahead of August’s Premier League kick-off.
With just under a year remaining on Chukwuemeka’s deal, it looks more and more likely by the day that he will be leaving Villa Park within the next year, with Barcelona one of the sides reportedly interested in the 18-year-old.
According to The Telegraph, the 11-time England U19 international can move to a foreign club for compensation between £300,000 and £400,000, which is significantly less than what an English club would have to pay.
And O’Rourke believes that it would be a major disappointment for Villa to lose a talent that they have previously rated at £20m.
He said: “It’s a huge blow for Villa if they lose Chukwuemeka, who’s very highly regarded – not just at Aston Villa, but across Europe.
“I think he’s really enhanced his potential with England’s Under-19s at the recent Euros as well.
“So I think Villa, if they were to lose a top young talent like this, especially if he sees out his contract and leaves on a free, that will be a huge blow for Villa.”
TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…
We agree with O’Rourke and think that Villa would be devastated to lose such a highly rated talent for next to nothing in 12 months’ time.
We think Steven Gerrard needs to establish whether the starlet is likely to sign a new contract at the club and then attempt to sell the youngster this summer if he is not going to agree to a new deal.
And we also believe Villa would be extremely disappointed if a talent they had helped nurture was to leave in the next year, with the club priding itself on its production of young prospects, as demonstrated by their 2021 FA Youth Cup victory.