Aston Villa are set to complete the signing of Kerr Smith and former Dundee United ace Lee Wilkie believes the teenager is right to take the Premier League plunge, speaking to The Courier.
With Philippe Coutinho arriving and Lucas Digne expected to follow, it’s fair to say 17-year-old Smith is hardly going to be Aston Villa’s most high-profile signing of the January transfer window.
But when you consider that a who’s who of Premier League clubs have been watching the Scotland U19 star like a hungry hawk in recent times, no one should underestimate just how well Villa have done to secure Smith’s highly sought-after signature.
According to the Daily Record, Southampton, Crystal Palace, Everton and European champions Chelsea were also interested.
Manchester United and Liverpool have been linked in the past too. The Courier, meanwhile, reported earlier in January that Celtic wanted to keep Smith in Scotland.
But Aston Villa are on the verge of striking a deal that could earn Dundee United a cool £2 million.
Smith has received permission to travel south of the border in order to dot the Is, cross the Ts and undergo medical tests with his new employers.
Coutinho, Digne and now Kerr Smith for Aston Villa?
“Aston Villa could be his destination and that would be a good move for Kerr, in my view,” says Wilkie, who spent four years at Tannadice from 2006 to 2010.
“If you asked me a year ago, I’d say he’s better off staying where he is. But if he’s not getting a huge amount of first-team football here, he’d be better off in Villa’s U23s than United’s U18s.”
The Record claim that Aston Villa, who rate Smith as one of the most exciting defensive talents in the UK, are planning to integrate the Montrose-born stopper into their much-vaunted under 23 set-up.
Villa’s youngsters tasted FA Youth Cup glory last term, with Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene-Bidace and Carney Chukwuemeka earning first-team breakthroughs.
“He’s a player with such potential, I wouldn’t want to see it wasted whatever choice he makes,” Wilkie adds.
Speaking to The Courier in October 2020, Dundee United’s sporting director Tony Asghar confirmed that Aston Villa had shown an interest in Smith, taking the then-15-year-old on trial.
Some 18 months later, Aston Villa have returned to complete a deal that has been nearly two years in the waiting.
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