Cole Brannigan is set to sign for Aston Villa having seemingly dodged interest from Premier League champions Manchester City.
Villa have made moves to bolster their development ranks in recent times.
Deals for the likes of Louie Barry, Kerr Smith, Josh Feeney, Ben Chrisene and Caleb Chukwuemeka have all arrived in recent transfer windows.
Striker Rory Wilson arrived from Rangers over the summer too with Villa clearly placing a keen focus on adding young talent for the coming years.
It now looks like Villa are on the verge of another young signing – and this one looks like a real coup.
Cole Brannigan is set to sign for Aston Villa
The Birmingham Mail report that Villa are on the verge of signing Northern Irish teenager Cole Brannigan.
It’s stated that Manchester City were also chasing Brannigan but he appears to be choosing a move to Villa Park instead.
The Sun reported in September that a host of Premier League clubs were trying to sign Brannigan.
Chelsea, Leeds United and Manchester City were all named as being in the race for the teenager.
Villa appear to have sneaked into the race and are now ready to sign the Linfield talent ahead of major competition.
The Belfast Telegraph reported last week that Villa would be paying around £150,000 for Brannigan and the deal will go through in the summer.
That report suggested that Brannigan’s creativity had really impressed having turned out for Northern Ireland in the Victory Shield.
Villa have seen enough to make their move and many at Linfield allegedly believe that Brannigan – who predominantly plays as a winger – can become a first-team star in England.
Villa will surely be delighted to have fended off so much competition for Brannigan and would love to see him emerge into Unai Emery’s first team one day.
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