Finley gets his chance

It's official, Finley Munroe is the latest academy graduate (albeit signed from Chelsea) to leave Villa with an exciting career ahead of him. Finley has left Villa permanently to join Championship side Middlesbrough.

If anything shows how serious Villa's youth setup is, it's a player excelling on loan at League Two before jumping two divisions in a permanent deal with suitors aplenty. Swindon Town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🕒 23 | ✅ 22 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 5 | 🇺 0 |

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/finley-munroe

Many, including your author, thought Fin had a chance of a regular spot in the Villa first team, but with his contract winding down, and no obvious instant path into Unai Emery's matchday 20, Villa have decided to cash in and he'll have to make do with a European semi-final debut against Olympiacos and one Premier League sub appearance.

CB Finley Munroe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Aston Villa 2024 | Youth | 🕒 2 | ✅ 0 🔁 (2) | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺 5 | #997 | 🟩 0 | 🟨 0 | 🟥 2 | Cards 🟨 0 | 🟥 0 | £300k is hardly on the face of it PSR valuable, but every penny counts, and with a c30% sell on fee, and an almost cast-iron guarantee he'll end up in the Prem, the deal could prove tasty over the long term. Wishing Finley all the best and a huge h/t to the work the youth-set-up continues to do in giving careers to young footballers the rest of us could only dream of.