Aston Villa have let far too many of their own talented youngster’s leave – but thankfully they gave former Southampton youngster Tom Leggett a second chance.
With Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and James Ward-Prowse (above) for inspiration, you wonder why any young player would want to take their chances away from Southampton’s prosperous youth academy.
Yet, former Saints youth captain Tom Leggett is starting to reap the rewards of his surprise decision to swap the South Coast club for Aston Villa in 2014.
The versatile Welshman may have been in and out of Gordon Cowan’s Under-23 squad last season but he has taken his game to another level in 2016/17. Versatile and competitive, the natural right-back has impressed in a more attacking role in recent months while his ability to fill on the opposite flank has done his chances of a first-team call-up no harm at all.
As such, Leggett has been one of the stand-out performers in Aston Villa’s development squad. Which is quite an achievement considering that the club were considering whether or not to release the defender in May last year after a hit and miss second season, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
And with Steve Bruce at the helm these days at Villa Park, Leggett can harbour hope of making his senior bow sooner rather than later. The likes of Keinan Davis and Andre Green have been pushed into the first-team reckoning in recent months while talented striker Rushian Hepburn-Murphy (below) would surely have become an established member of the squad if it wasn’t for contract wrangles and a series of niggling injuries.
Bruce told the Birmingham Mail recently that Villa would aim to keep their most promising youngsters after watching Gary Cahill and Marc Albrighton lift the Premier League trophy in successive seasons.
Preston’s Callum Robinson and Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan have also enjoyed fine Championship seasons after being released by Villa.
Though the club’s decision to keep hold of Leggett, and his consequent progression, suggests they are already learning their lessons.
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