It was a quiet old September for Aston Villa fans. Having opened the month with the 1-1 draw with Manchester City, Leicester City was postponed, and we closed the action out with a narrow victory over Southampton before heading into another pointless international break, and it was hardly worth the wait if you suffered the 90 minutes against Leeds United as we moved through October.
There was a bit more action further down the English football pyramid, so time to check in on how our youngsters are doing.
Following a very successful spell out last season with League Two side Newport County, 22-year-old Finn Azaz stepped up a level this time around and made the move to League One side Plymouth Argyle for the remainder of the campaign. It’s been another good start for the lad. He has made nine starts and three substitute appearances, and he’s already returned three goals for them.
20-year-old goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo made the switch out to League One, and local side, Burton Albion as he looks set to spend the rest of the year building on his own successful loan spell out with Scottish Championship side Ayr back in the 2020/21 campaign. He has made five starts for them so far.
Having had a mixed first half of the season with Ipswich Town, 19-year-old Louie Barry got himself back on track after a January switch to League Two side Swindon Town. He has also stepped up a level this year, making a season long loan out to League One MK Dons. Barry now has five starts, with four additional showings from the substitutes bench.
Following on from Ben Mee’s horror challenge, 25-year-old Wesley had a very mixed 2021/22 campaign, first heading to Club Brugge, before moving on to Internacional in January. This term he’s headed to Spanish Segunda Division side Levante as he looks to prove his fitness and form, and ultimately get his career back on track. He’s made seven starts and one substitute appearance for them so far.
Having had a reasonable spell out in the second half of the year with Stoke City, 20-year-old Jaden Philogene-Bidace gets a second bite at the Championship cherry as he’s set to spend the season with Cardiff City. Five starts and three substitute showings later, he’s already returned one goal.
Following Jacob’s rise through the ranks in recent seasons, former gaffer Dean Smith is attempting to repeat the trick with 19-year-old brother, Aaron. Having had a reasonable second half of the season loan spell out with League One side Cheltenham Town, Aaron Ramsey will now spend the season with Championship side Norwich City. After a slowish start as he adjusted, he now has six starts and five substitute showings to his name, providing three assists.
19-year-old Kaine Kesler Hayden had a fantastic 2021/22 campaign. He spent the first half of the year with League Two Swindon Town, before stepping up to League One MK Dons during the January window. This season he again steps up another level as he’s headed out to Championship side Huddersfield Town. He now has four starts and two substitute showing under his belt.
The conundrum that is 26-year-old Bertie Traore, will spend the 2022/23 with Turkish Super Lig side Istanbul Basaksehir. Making the move later on during the window, he now has four starts and two substitute showings to his name. He’s also scored twice.
In one of the stranger decisions of the summer given we already knew about the injury to Diego Carlos, 27-year-old Kortney Hause headed out to the Championship to spend the year with Watford He now has two starts and one substitute appearance to his name.
24-year-old Keinan Davis had previously headed out to Vicarage Road for the campaign and he has two starts and three substitute showings to his name so far. He has returned two goals.
Having received a bit of game time whilst he was with Exeter City before making the move to our Academy, 18-year-old defender Ben Chrisene made the move north of the border to join Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock for the season. He’s now made five starts for the side.
There were also a few late deadline day departures.
21-year-old Tyreik Wright has again headed out for a spell in League Two, but this time the Republic of Ireland Under 21 international heads for Bradford City for the rest of the year. He has two starts, two substitute appearances and two goals to his name.
19-year-old striker Brad Young will build on his loan spell with Carlisle United last year, as he’s now set to spend the rest of the season with Scottish Championship side Ayr United. Young scored on his debut against Raith Rovers and now has one start and two substitute showings under his belt.
With plenty of Villans wanting to see slightly more of 19-year-old Tim Iroegbunam, he very sensibly has been given a loan spell out with Michael Beale’s Queens Park Rangers side. It’s his maiden loan spell since joining us and clearly going straight into the Championship shows how highly we rate him. He has two starts and two substitute appearances to his name.
Fellow 19-year-old midfielder Hayden Lindley has also departed for a League Two experience, and he heads to Newport County for the rest of the 2022/23 campaign. Hopefully the spell will prove as fruitful as Finn Azaz’s did last term. He now has three starts and one substitute appearance under his belt.
Caleb Chukwuemeka headed out to League Two side Crawley Town. The loan includes an obligation to buy. He has two starts and three substitute showings so far.
Now we are in October, hopefully we’ll start seeing more of what these lads are capable of.
