Today, Fabrizio Romano has said that Aston Villa wonderkid Carney Chukwuemeka could leave the club this summer.
Romano said on his Twitter page, @FabrizioRomano, that his recent lack of game time has put a host of European clubs on alert, with Germany a likely destination as he enters the final year of his contract. He added that Bundesliga clubs are already exploring this possibility.
A lot of fans will criticise the club for how little Carney Chukwuemeka has played in the first team, however, what we have to remember is that he is eighteen and unproven. No matter the ability or skill you’re graced with as a footballer, you can never expect to play every week as a young, untested eighteen year old – especially at the top level at a huge club like Aston Villa.
Whether it’s arrogance from Carney or agent interference that has made him turn his head, we don’t want players at the club that don’t want to be here. No player is bigger than our club.
If he doesn’t want to stay, we as a club shouldn’t stand in his way. If you aren’t committed, the skill and ability counts for nought. Hopefully if we do sell him on, we will add a tasty sell on fee so we get a bit of money when he leaves whoever he signs for.
He made it clear from the start that he thought he was bigger than the club, and his ego will have only been boosted even more when he sees all the fans hyping up his potential and ability on social media. Even one of the greatest midfielders of all time in Steven Gerrard couldn’t turn his head towards staying and developing at Villa.
Where Next For Carney?
The most likely destination for Chukwuemeka is Borussia Dortmund. They love recruiting young talents and developing them into world class players – examples include Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland. Amid interest from Dortmund last summer where rumours said they were going to bid £15m, they will definitely be one of the Bundesliga clubs weighing up this possibility, and with their reputation of being a “development home” for young aces, he will definitely be interested in going to Dortmund, and could be the ideal Jude Bellingham replacement if the former Birmingham City midfielder leaves them this summer. It should be in Aston Villa's best interests to not sell Chukwuemeka to a Premier League rival.
Like I said earlier, no player is bigger or better than Aston Villa. We had players before Delph and Benteke, we had players after Delph and Benteke. We had players before Grealish, we have players after Grealish. We had players before Carney, we’ll have players after Carney. There are many up and coming young talents in our academy such as recently debuted Iroegbunam, MK Dons loanee Kaine Kesler and Swindon loanee Louie Barry to name a few that are arguably more deserving of a place in the squad next season mentality wise because they want to be at the club and want to develop at Aston Villa. Hopefully they can develop in the same way as Jacob Ramsey, who is now one of the first names on the team sheet for us. A proper wonderkid and one of our own too.
BY HARRY BATTERS - @HarryBatters