Jacob Bedeau highlights Aston Villa mistake with 'unreal' performance

Jacob Bedeau never played a first-team game for Premier League outfit Aston Villa before joining Scunthorpe United for free.

Back in 2017, scouts from 27 different clubs flocked to Gigg Lane to watch a teenage centre-back by the name of Jacob Bedeau in action (Birmingham Mail).

Soon after, Aston Villa pulled off one hell of a coup when they beat the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City to secure his sought-after signature, paying an initial £900,000 for the privilege, according to the BBC.

And, across the next two years, Bedeau shone at U23 level, making a real name for himself at Bodymoor Heath. It seemed only a matter of time before the London-born starlet was blocking shots and spraying diagonals for the first team too.

So imagine the surprise when Bedeau was released in February. His exit certainly came out of the blue with Scunthorpe United snapping up the 19-year-old on a free transfer.

And his performance in Tuesday’s 3-0 thrashing of Sunderland in the EFL Trophy should raise further questions about why Aston Villa seemingly lost faith in a player who was once one of the most coveted defenders in England.

Bedeau was classy, composed and showed a maturity beyond his years as Scunthorpe, the fourth lowest team in the whole of the EFL, thumped a team 36 places above them in the Football League. Villa's loss is the Iron's gain - and they only have themselves to blame.