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Carney Chukwuemeka

Villan4Life

By Villan4Life
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LondonLax Grand Master

LondonLax

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Panto_Villan said:

It’s a shame he left but £20m is astoundingly good money given the circumstances. And it’s not like any of our other promising youngsters seen intent on forcing a move either, so I don’t think any of it reflects badly on Villa.

I’m generally not someone that begrudges players moving onto bigger and better things, but this saga has irritated me. It’s one thing moving on if you’re too good for us, but he’s not - he’s done nothing to suggest he should currently be playing in the Villa first eleven imo. I’m sure he’ll develop further but right now he’s not good enough for us.

That said I do understand why a player would prefer to be integrated into the Chelsea squad rather than the Villa one (more games, possible CL minutes). And Chelsea clearly rate him given they’re willing to pay so much for him - so I’m not too bitter.

If he’d refused to sign and forced a move on a free next summer in hope someone bigger would snap him up, the situation would have a very different complexion. I’d probably be genuinely angry rather than a bit irritated.

Given he hasn’t done anything to earn the affection I still have for Barry / Milner / Benteke / Grealish, I hope he fades into obscurity. It’d be nice to think Villa got the best of the deal rather than Chelsea.

The problem is a big chunk of the £20m fee is incentive based so we kind of want him to do well there to make sure we actually get the money. 

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Derryvillan
Derryvillan

Strange,you'd think he'd have met Marv before now.

BOF
BOF
MWARLEY2
MWARLEY2

Wanted to play for a club chasing european football with a manager with a European pedigree rather than a midtable club who wasnt playing him enough due to them being managed by an ex england central

Don_Simon Grand Master

Don_Simon

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11 hours ago, MellbergsBeard said:

The breakthrough in Carney Chukwuemeka’s £20million move from Aston Villa down to Chelsea came at a dinner in London hosted by Todd Boehly.

The new co-owner at Stamford Bridge invited executives from the 19 other Premier League clubs to an informal get-together last month, with Villa chief executive Christian Purslow seen sitting next to the American, locked in engaging conversation.

It is understood Chukwuemeka was at the heart of the talks as Chelsea’s academy and scouting staff had compiled a dossier on the 18-year-old’s strengths, prompting Boehly to go on a fact-finding mission.

Villa’s stance on the youngster, recognised as one of the top emerging attacking midfielders in the country, had been clear for some time. They wanted to extend his contract — and even offered to make him the highest-paid teenager in the top flight.

If Chukwuemeka was to be sold it would only be for the right money.

Barcelona had considered an offer and Italian champions AC Milan were willing to pay €3.5million (£3m) to sign him this summer. There was rival interest from England but nothing to suggest that a club would offer enough money to appease Villa.

Yet that all changed soon after the dinner, where Boehly and Purslow were said to have got on well, as discussions officially started. The move was wrapped up in less than a week.

Chelsea now have a player packed with so much potential that a decision has been made to integrate him into the first-team squad immediately with no plan for a loan to gain more experience. An excited Boehly said on completion of the deal: “Carney is one of the most exciting young players in Europe so we are really looking forward to seeing him in action at Stamford Bridge.”

For Villa, there is a degree of disappointment at being unable to keep hold of a player they have nurtured since the age of 12.

Yet this will not undo the work that has gone on in their academy, where three years of continued growth has made the Villa youth development system one of the best in the country.

The lingering Chukwuemeka contract situation appeared to be heading into a period of uncertainty. But by the time he was winning the Under-19 European Championship with England at the start of last month, it had become a case of when he was leaving Villa, not if.

After he rejected their final offer, a club decision was made to leave him out of the first-team squad that travelled to Australia for last month’s three-game pre-season tour.

Chukwuemeka was ordered to train with the under-23s, and with Milan and Barcelona refusing to get anywhere near the asking price, the most obvious outcome appeared to be a further stand-off until September 2 — the day after the transfer window closes.

That situation was unhealthy for all, especially as, come January 1, Chukwuemeka would have been able to discuss a move next summer when his contract was due to expire.

 

Villa would have been entitled to just £400,000 of training compensation had he left in that fashion, so to now get £20million ($24.3m) for a player who has started just two Premier League games is quite the deal.

It was Purslow who led the crunch negotiations, initially hoping to keep Chukwuemeka around, but then switching his focus to finding a willing buyer on Villa’s terms. There was no plan to let him leave on the cheap.

Since arriving as a minority investor in 2018 alongside co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, Purslow has successfully signed more than 60 young players of a similar age to Chukwuemeka, but tying this one down was a complex and curious process from the start.

Villa offered the former Northampton Town academy kid a competitive new contract on his 18th birthday in October, with the most lucrative deal for a player of that age following.

A clear pathway into Steven Gerrard’s first team was proposed and had the former Liverpool and England midfielder’s full buy-in but the chain of events over the last month — being left at home for that pre-season tour and training with the under-23s — signalled a departure was inevitable.

The size of the fee Chelsea are paying has shocked many people in football, including those at clubs who were also monitoring Chukwuemeka — it makes Villa landing Philippe Coutinho, a 30-year-old, 69-cap Brazil international who cost £142million in 2018, from Barcelona for £17million earlier this summer look even more of an attractive deal.

The hush-hush nature of Chelsea’s interest was telling.

Outside Chukwuemeka’s inner circle, the first many knew about the move to the current world champions was when a choreographed statement appeared on the websites of both Premier League clubs.

Chelsea’s interest has been long-standing, though.

Academy staff started to take notice of his talent during Villa’s run to winning the 2020-21 FA Youth Cup, where he starred. Chukwuemeka’s impressive performances in the Under-19 Euros earlier this summer only enhanced their admiration, and he has been assured of a place within the first-team set-up.

Chelsea acted swiftly as they feared Barcelona and Milan had moved ahead of them in the race for his signature.

The difficulty for Chukwuemeka now is breaking into the team at an elite club who have an internationally-renowned and world-class squad.

Villa showed him a clear pathway last season — out of a limited pool of players born in 2003, only Chukwuemeka and Norwich City’s Jonathan Rowe recorded double-digit appearances in the Premier League.

He was the youngest player to start a 2021-22 Premier League game, the 1-1 draw with Brentford last August when Dean Smith was still Villa manager, and successor Gerrard had spoken about wanting him to stick around, too.

Though he played a slightly more defensive role in central midfield for England, he is a natural No 8 or No 10 and favours an attacking role and it was his performances for Villa’s development teams in such advanced areas that formed the basis of Chelsea’s detailed scouting report.

Head coach Thomas Tuchel has Mason Mount and Kai Havertz at his position, as well as Conor Gallagher, who did so well on loan at Crystal Palace last season that he ended up in the England squad.

The future of other Chelsea midfielders is less certain, however, with Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Billy Gilmourexpected to consider their options elsewhere before the window closes.

Chukwuemeka faced a challenge breaking in at Villa too, but this will be an even sterner test. He believes in his abilities having grown up watching clips of former Brazil star Kaka, hoping one day to emulate his idol.

For Chelsea, it is one of many calculated gambles made this summer.

They got 18-year-old Jamaica international winger Omari Hutchinson to move from Arsenal by offering a higher salary, and this week completed the £12million signing of goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina, also 18, from MLS side Chicago Fire.

Brazilian club Palmeiras’ forward Endrick, 16, is next on the wish list and with a history of turning young players into first-team stars, the future is again looking bright.

Back at Villa, there will always be the question of why did Chukwuemeka, born in Austria to Nigerian parents who later moved to the UK, not want to stick around when almost all their other youngsters have.

“I couldn’t get Chelsea out of my head… and I can’t wait to get on the pitch, meet all the players and try to win games and trophies,” he said.

There will now be a close focus on his development as he prepares for this new challenge.

 

Apart from the Barca / Milan excerpts, (which could be / is probably, fiction), this could have been written by any of us. How do journalists justify a decent living these days? 

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JPJCB Experienced

JPJCB

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7 hours ago, Don_Simon said:

Apart from the Barca / Milan excerpts, (which could be / is probably, fiction), this could have been written by any of us. How do journalists justify a decent living these days? 

The point about integrating him into their first team straight away is interesting. As much as we mock the Chelsea loan factory, I genuinely think a loan move to a lower premier league club so that he can get some regular game time and get used to the pace/physicality of the league is what he needs right now. So I’m even more convinced that this deal isn’t gonna work for him- I’d be surprised if he made many more appearances than he made for us last season given their squad is more stacked 

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Pinebro Grand Master

Pinebro

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Posted (edited)

I actually don't have many issues with Carney.

Asked for more game time and a higher wage. We stood our ground and declined.

He moved on to a Champions League club.

He has not come out and said anything bad about the club and he was never a Villa fan to begin with.

Massively disappointed to lose one hell of a talent but can't really hate on the guy. We move.

Edited by Pinebro
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foreveryoung Grand Master

foreveryoung

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2 hours ago, Pinebro said:

I actually don't have many issues with Carney.

Asked for more game time and a higher wage. We stood our ground and declined.

He moved on to a Champions League club.

He has not come out and said anything bad about the club and he was never a Villa fan to begin with.

Massively disappointed to lose one hell of a talent but can't really hate on the guy. We move.

One hell of a talent?? Maybe in a couple of years, if he's not working in footlocker by then. Didn't do much for us, or else he would have been on the team sheet.

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AndyM3000 Veteran

AndyM3000

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20 minutes ago, foreveryoung said:

One hell of a talent?? Maybe in a couple of years, if he's not working in footlocker by then. Didn't do much for us, or else he would have been on the team sheet.

That in itself is questionable given our most talented player is barely on the team sheet.

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villa4europe Grand Master

villa4europe

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Out of interest (which means I'm too lazy to look) did any 18 year olds play PL football this weekend? Or any of the U19 euros winners get PL minutes? Did anyone of them even make it on to the bench? 

That's the context when you say if he was any good he would be on the team sheet, he was in our squad and getting at least some minutes, none of the others are 

 

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