Aston Villa’s growing group of younger talent provides reason to be excited in the West Midlands.
Cameron Archer, Jacob Ramsey and Tim Iroegbunam are a handful of the names who have come through Villa’s development set-up at some stage.
Now, a new crop of talent could be coming through the ranks.
Unai Emery’s injury issues have been well-documented. The Spaniard has had to deal with several first-team absentees this season.
The most eye-catching blow in recent weeks came during Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
French midfielder Boubacar Kamara was forced off, a season-ending ACL injury for the 24-year-old midfielder.
“Of course, it’s more difficult for the player, as a person, when they are injured. And when they are injured for a long time, it’s the worst in football,” Emery told The Athletic.
“We’ve had two injuries for a long time, for all the season, with Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings, and now it’s the same for Boubacar Kamara.”
On how long the midfielder would be out for, the Villa boss added: “He’s going to be out for the rest of the season and more or less in September or October, he’s coming back.
With Kamara set to miss the first part of next season, Villa will likely call upon Youri Tielemans and Iroegbunam to cover the 24-year-old’s absence.
Delving into the transfer market is also an option.
Yet, Villa may already have a younger version of Kamara already waiting in the wings.
Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba can be Boubacar Kamara 2.0
Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba, 17, joined the club in August 2023, the latest of a long list poached from West Bromwich Albion.
Jimoh-Aloba has enjoyed an excellent debut season with the under-18s, scoring four goals and registering one assist in his five starts. Per Villa’s website, the midfielder has also registered an 80 per cent pass accuracy and 100 per cent shot accuracy. The 17-year-old has also won 44 per cent of his attempted tackles.
On the face of it, the former Albion youngster appears to be a combative midfielder who is impressive in both boxes.
Jimoh-Aloba was gifted an opportunity with Villa’s under-21s on Friday evening, scoring twice during the 4-0 win over Middlesbrough.
“Jamaldeen is a good ball manager who can be effective in and around both penalty boxes,” said academy manager Mark Harrison.
“We are delighted Jamal has joined us, as there was a lot of competition for his signature.
“We look forward to working with Jamal and supporting him to fulfil his potential.”
Aston Villa appear to have landed an exceptional talent and fought off some big clubs to land Jimoh-Aloba. The Sun reported in February 2022 that Manchester City and Chelsea were fighting to sign Albion’s “wonderkid”.
Per the Express and Star, Villa signed the youngster for £1million, with the Baggies inserting a 10 per cent sell-on clause into the deal.
After an excellent start to life at the club, there’s every chance of the youngster being thrust into the first-team squad on the odd occasion at the beginning of next season.
