Premier League outfit Aston Villa allowed £3m forgotten man James Bree to join Championship Luton Town on loan.
Maybe Aston Villa have got James Bree all wrong.
A £3 million signing from Barnsley in January 2017, the Wakefield-born defender made just 21 Championship appearances in two years for Villa with his performances at right-back proving distinctly underwhelming.
Towards the end of Steve Bruce’s ill-fated tenure, Bree even slipped to third in the pecking order behind Ahmed Elmohamady and the veteran Alan Hutton.
But, after joining Luton Town on a temporary deal, the 21-year-old appears to be enjoying a new lease of life. Bree made his home debut at Kenilworth Road during Tuesday’s 3-1 Carabao Cup victory against, ironically enough, an Ipswich Town side Bree spent time on loan at during the second half of last season.
The youngster didn’t play in his usual right-back position, however. Instead, former West Brom assistant Graeme Jones handed Bree a chance on the right of a back three – and the manager was rewarded with arguably the defender’s best performance since his formative years at Barnsley.
In truth, Bree looked far more at home in a central role than he ever did on the flanks at Aston Villa. So this is something for Dean Smith to keep in mind.
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