Aston Villa have had a number of players breaking through their academy and into the spotlight in recent seasons with both Carney Chukwuemeka and Jacob Ramsey becoming well-known Premier League regulars since graduating.
The arrival of Unai Emery at Villa Park will leave supporters hopeful that he can build and develop the current squad to improve their consistency in the top flight over his tenure whilst also attracting some of the top talents across Europe with his experience of managing giant clubs like Arsenal and Villarreal.
Indeed, Aston Villa were linked with some of the hottest young prospects in European football over the January transfer window with Matteo Guendouzi, Nico Williams and Nicolas Jackson all touted for a move to the Midlands, however, nothing substantial materialised.
The Villans will need to significantly improve their balance of goals scored and conceded if they are to better their chances of breaking into the top half of the table over their remaining fixtures as they currently have the worst goal difference (-6) in the top 11 and the joint-highest amount of goals conceded in the top 12 Premier League teams.
Clearly, there will need to be improvements made to the defensive set-up at Villa Park which Emery will surely be keen to address in the summer transfer window, however, he may not need to look too far to find the solution to the inconsistency in the back-line.
The Villa boss may already have his Tyrone Mings heir in the academy with U21s centre-back Kerr Smith showing glimpses of quality that could see him follow in the footsteps of Ramsey by breaking through to the first team in no time.
The 18-year-old Scotsman – who was dubbed “talented” by Micky Mellon – completed a move to the club in January 2022 from Dundee United, becoming a consistent and reliable performer in the youth set-up over the last 12 months.
Smith has already tallied up 28 appearances in the Villa youth teams and this season has featured in the U21’s Football League Trophy campaign – tallying up an 88% pass completion rate and winning 100% of his aerial duels, proving himself to be a dominant but composed asset.
He also averaged two tackles and a whopping five clearances per game over his two appearances, proving he is a huge presence in his position.
The teenage machine has attracted a lot of praise over his short career so far with Daily Record journalist Scott Burns hailing Smith when analysing the player’s strengths upon his move to Villa:
“He’s done well, considering he’s only 17. He’s obviously quite big and strong, but he’s also very good on the ball.
“I remember Micky Mellon saying Kerr Smith was as good as anyone he’d seen at that age group.”
With that being said, the future is looking bright for Smith and if he can continue to develop and thrive in the U21s he could the perfect player to succeed Mings in the first team.