Would Aston Villa’s James Bree have been better off at Barnsley?

Follow us on Google Discover

Aston Villa paid £3m to take James Bree to the Midlands from Championship rivals Barnsley in the January transfer window

James Bree earned plenty of plaudits for his performance for Aston Villa’s Under-23s against Wolves on Monday night.

Goalscorer Jordan Lyden and the instrumental Callum O’Hare caught the eye as Villa secured a 2-0 victory over their Midland rivals at New Buck’s Head but Bree’s display has not been overlooked.

The right-back was an assured presence as Kevin McDonald kept Wolves off the scoresheet in the Premier League 2 clash. Though this is not the first time Bree has dropped down to play for the Villa’ Under-23s this season.

Since moving to Villa Park from Barnsley in the January transfer window, the 19-year-old has started just seven Championship games under Steve Bruce. These days, he has not only Alan Hutton and Ritchie de Laet but Ahmed Elmohamady in front of him in the pecking order too.

And while Villa still see Bree as a real talent for the future, it is difficult to see how the teenager can get much needed minutes under his belt at senior level.

Grass isn’t always greener

In that sense, perhaps Bree was a little quick to leave his boyhood club nine months ago. Villa invested £3 million in the Oakwell talent in January, per the Birmingham Mail, with the young defender being likened to another Barnsley graduate in John Stones.

The Wakefield-born talent, who became Barnsley’s second youngest player of all time when making his debut at just 16, had started 18 Championship games for The Tykes during the first half of the 2016/17 season.

And it’s likely that he still would have been first choice had he rebuffed Villa’s advances in January. Though Villa, with all due respect to Barnsley, are a far bigger club and appear to have a much greater chance at promotion, Bree has unknowingly sacrificed first-team senior football for the odd run out with the Under-23s.

It seems the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.