Jake Doyle-Hayes admits he is ‘delighted’ to have been compared with Barcelona legend Xavi as he looks to get his career back on track away from Aston Villa, while speaking to RTE.
Jack Grealish might have gone from homegrown prospect to captain fantastic at Villa Park, but not everyone at Bodymoor Heath is capable of forcing their way into Dean Smith’s first-team plans.
Doyle-Hayes made three senior appearances in claret and blue but was denied the chance to add to that tally when his contract expired at the end of last season.
However, after earning comparisons with arguably the greatest central midfielder of his generation, it might not be long before the Republic of Ireland U21 international has Villa wondering whether they should have offered him a new deal after all.
“If I can play half as good as Xavi did I’ll be doing OK,” Doyle-Hayes said of his likeness with the 2010 World Cup winner.
“Obviously I was delighted. I suppose there are worse nicknames to be given.
“The way I play, I like to get attacks going, to create a lot of chances for my team-mates and make a few goals here and there.
“I know myself I need to add a few goals to my game so that’s something I really want to improve on. But I’ll give 100 per cent in every game and be aggressive when we don’t have the ball.”
Doyle-Hayes joined St Mirren on a free transfer this week.
While he would have been disappointed to learn that he had no future at Aston Villa, there is no shortage of young talent let go by the Midland giants who have gone on to shine elsewhere.
See Callum Robinson, Barry Bannan and 2016 Premier League champion Marc Albrighton, for example.
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