Unai Emery has a talented wonderkid at Aston Villa who he could unleash from the academy in 2024.
Aston Villa have a rich history of giving youth players a chance to shine.
The meteoric rise of Jack Grealish from boyhood supporter to club icon and now treble winner at Manchester City is the prime example.
As a result of his rise, the Englishman has facilitated the dreams and aspirations of youngsters plying their trade in academy.
One of those is attacking midfielder Omari Kellyman, who has previously been labelled as an ‘absolute dream’, while another is talented attacker Rico Richards.
Who is Rico Richards?
Villa managed to capture Richards as a free agent upon the expiration of his contract at West Bromwich Albion in July 2023.
The highly-rated midfielder had been at The Hawthorns since the age of seven, making two substitute appearances for the first-team, and has also represented England at junior level.
At the time, it was revealed that Richards had a number of options but was keen to join Villa after impressing in the Baggies youth setup.
In Richard Beale’s U21 side last term, the 20-year-old produced four goals and five assists in 19 Premier League 2 appearances.
Hailed as a ‘splendid’ player by journalist Joseph Chapman due to his ability to play anywhere across the front, Richards has translated that form across to Villa.
He’s scored three goals and assisted once in eight Premier League 2 appearances while shining in the EFL Trophy.
In the 3-2 defeat against Crawley in November, he would have caught Emery’s eye after having a hand in both goals and is now pushing for a place in the first-team.
With an FA Cup clash to come against Middlesbrough this weekend, this could give the Spaniard an opportunity to rotate his side and perhaps throw a youngster – like Richards – onto the bench.
Will Richards be in Aston Villa’s squad v Middlesbrough?
Emery has made it clear previously that he wants to go deep into every competition and that could imply he’s going to start a strong side against Middlesbrough.
The third-round curse has plagued Villa for almost eight years now and the last time they reached the fourth round was in the 2015/16 campaign.
With the Villans looking to avoid further humiliation after being knocked out by League Two Stevenage at this stage last season, Emery will want to take this competition seriously.
Whilst that doesn’t fully rule Richards out from being named in the squad, it’s highly unlikely he’ll get his chance to impress against Championship opposition, but he will have plenty more chances in the future.
