Smith and Aston Villa stars impressed by 17-year-old, Spurs wanted him

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Lamare Bogarde has made his mark behind the scenes at Aston Villa with Dean Smith and some of the club’s senior players impressed by his attitude and ability, as reported by The Athletic.

The Midlands giants certainly made the most of the last transfer window of the pre-Brexit era.

Bringing in highly rated teenagers Sil Swinkels, Oliwier Zych and former Feyenoord wonder kid Bogarde, Aston Villa signed three up-and-coming talents who would almost certainly have been blocked from putting pen to paper after Britain left the EU in early 2021.

Bogarde, then, feels like a signing from another era, snapped up in the nick of time. Now, having established himself in Villa’s youth sides, the 17-year-old has his sights firmly fixed on forcing his way into Smith’s first-team plans.

Will Bogarde feature for Aston Villa vs Chelsea?

The Dutchman trains regularly with the likes of Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings these days, alongside Carney Chukwuemeka and Jaden Philogene-Bidace, and is now looking to make his second senior appearance in claret and blue – and his first since a covid-hit Villa side faced Liverpool in the FA Cup third round eight months ago.

“(Bogarde) is a player with immense potential and the commitment that will go into fulfilling that starts now,” academy manager Mark Harrison told the Birmingham Mail last year.

According to The Athletic, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur tried to sign Bogarde before he put pen to paper at Aston Villa.

And in Smith he’s now working day in, day out with a coach who boasts a fine track record when it comes to developing exciting young players.

It’s understood Bogarde has plenty of admirers behind the scenes at Villa, too, with Smith and a number of first-team players having been impressed by the impact he’s made in training.

A place in the squad for Wednesday’s EFL Cup clash with Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea would be a fitting reward for a young man going from strength to strength in the Second City.