As Aston Villa move forward under the Paul Lambert era, many have questioned his decision to focus on young, unknown players, presumably because unknown quantities are, you know, unknown.
However, the reality is that every single player Lambert has signed has had some kind of visibility in the leagues they have operated in. Whilst the likes of Jores Okore, Niklas Helenius, or Libor Kozak were not exactly household names, every one of them would be fairly visible by scouting the European leagues.
Many of these captures have a lot in common with Swansea City’s capture of Michu, another player seen as a capture out of nowhere, a star uncovered as though he had been hidden away under a mountain of players, invisible to all but the most trained eyes.
The reality is that when Michu had his last season in La Liga, he was the top scoring player in midfield. With statistics like that, even a casual player of Football Manager could have scouted such a player.
Getting back to Villa, the signings brought in so far are far from invisible. Helenius was player of the season in the 2012-13 Danish Superliga, Okore was a known Chelsea target, and Kozak was the leading goal scorer in the Europa League. Whilst there was no “in the know” knowledge – a term I hate – from fans about the targets, none of them were so out of left field to be on the list of any club with a developed European scouting network.
However, many of the club’s captures this season – and last season also – have been viewed as unknown quantities, though such analysis says more about the Premier League’s insular nature than it does of any revelation amongst the signings.
Some fans have suggested that unknowns are too risky, that Villa should be shopping at a more established level of player, and that there is a massive gamble being played by both the manager, the chief executive, and the owner.
Prepare Yourself For The Future
What should be fairly evident at this point is the club’s decision to start investing in foreign scouting, logically with the progression to getting more and more footholds in leagues, especially those leagues where players are paid less than the mainstream top flight leagues like La Liga or Serie A – Kozak being one exception.
The future means more progress of those footholds, investing in developing Villa’s academy from a strongly Birmingham-centric entity, to more of a centre of a European spider’s web.
Whilst Villa have had, and do have, players who are from outside the area – Austrian Andreas Weimann or even Irish Arsenal-bought Samir Carruthers – the majority of the club’s purchases are driven from a fairly UK-centric academy concept.
In future, much to the dismay of some fans I’m sure, signings coming in will, in part, be even less known than the likes of Helenius, Okore, or Kozak – whilst the aforementioned trio were close to the surface of potential transfers, many of Villa’s future captures will be buried far deeper.
This isn’t to say that the entire list of every transfer going forwards is going to be an unknown quantity. Should Villa progress, a likely-if-slow possibility given the club’s strategy, more wages will need to be paid if the club want to make a splash when turnover increases, though the number of those type of signings will be significantly smaller than the “unknowns”.
Instead, Villa will be looking at finding the players they want at even earlier ages – 13, 14, 15 – just as the likes of Chelsea do. With a strongly set foundation in Europe, either via football schools in foreign countries and/or increased scouting presences in lesser known leagues, Villa will end up buying players in as early as possible – likely via the academy considering the ages of these kinds of prospects.
With such a plan, there is a strong chance the academy can produce a very high percentage of the squad going forwards, a plan that had been expected to occur in the past, but rarely provided the goods.
Instead, the academy will be augmented with talent from around the world, meaning less wages, less transfer fees, and less potential issue in case of getting it wrong.
Patience – Have It Or You’ll Lose Your Head
The plan is certainly a long term one – don’t expect miracles overnight – but surely a fundamentally grounded logic will mean great rewards, leaving Villa as a beacon for the production and development of youth. With recent signings, Villa have already proven that they are engaged in a project that can sway players – Okore having chosen Villa over Chelsea due to the potential for first team football – so making sure that plan can be dug deeper into the ground, at increasingly earlier ages, means less risk, less outlay, and more academy products.
Which, if we’re honest, is what many have wanted. How many have lauded our academy for being able to provide the needed bodies to improve our team, only to be disappointed when things didn’t quite work out?
With an academy structure that focuses heavily on building on the core ethos of Lambert’s team – mostly young men working together as one unit – it isn’t impossible to imagine a club that both produces talent and produces profit.
Many will say that profit is irrelevant to them, but if these plans do come to fruition – a fairly likely probability – surely fans will see the merit in reinvesting such profits in team development? Selling a player at a high value can be seen as losing a key asset, or giving chance to make the whole team raise up a level with reinvestment, very similar to how Andre Villas-Boas has looked to reinvest Gareth Bale’s proceeds.
Either way, it means Villa can develop from the bottom and the top – surely a benefit for the club and its fans – leaving much to be happy for, even if the project takes a little time to get going.
Lambert’s project is only starting but, if it is enacted fully, Villa fans may well see a rich yield out of relative pennies – something every fan must see the benefit in, surely?
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