Steven Gerrard is unlikely to hand Kerr Smith his senior Aston Villa debut until next season as Aston Villa begin to outline the January transfer’s future, according to Birmingham Live.
Smith moved to Villa Park in the recent mid-season market from Dundee United for £800k rising to £2m with add-ons. The 17-year-old caught the Villans’ attention with his efforts in the Scottish Premiership after making his Tannadice Park first-team breakthrough last year.
He made five outings before the close of the 2020/21 term and played seven further times after Tam Courts’ arrival. However, Smith has still only started seven senior fixtures so far.
Injury meant Smith had to wait for his first taste of action in claret-and-blue before playing in Aston Villa’s U23s. The Scotland U19 international earned his debut from the bench last week away to Nottingham Forest’s academy side, but failed to help Villa avoid a 4-1 defeat.
Aston Villa now intend to keep Smith in their academy ranks for the remainder of his debut term in Birmingham. The Villa Park outfit want to allow the youngster time to settle in their system before breaking into Gerrard’s first-team fold during the early parts of next season.
Smith to make senior Aston Villa debut in 2022/23
Aston Villa have earmarked the 2022/23 Carabao Cup campaign for Smith to make his first-team breakthrough under Gerrard. The Villans want to see the centre-back make progress in their academy this term before earning senior minutes during their pre-season schedule.
Smith should play regularly this summer and positive performances can lead to competitive minutes in their early EFL Cup fixtures. Gerrard unleashing the defender will also afford him chances to show why rival Premier League clubs had also considered targeting his transfer.
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