Aston Villa Set To Miss Out On Nigerian Center Back Dubbed The New Semi Ajayi

Published: April 20, 2020

Allnigeriasoccer.com can exclusively report that Aston Villa are set to miss out on the signature of Nigerian center back Paul Ibahadon.

The promising 15-year-old was offered a two-year contract by Aston Villa following a successful trial but the deal has not gone through yet because the English Premier League side have not processed his international clearance.

Born in Italy, Ibahadon was playing for the youth team of Atalanta before his mother relocated to the United Kingdom for non-footballing reasons in August 2018.

The then Aston Villa Head of Youth Recruitment believes Ibahadon possesses all the qualities needed to play for a Category One Academy club in England and has tipped him for a bright future.

A ball-playing central defender who is composed, strong and quick, Ibahadon can also be utilized as a holding midfielder and has drawn comparisons with West Brom's Nigeria international Semi Ajayi.

He was training with Pulse Academy in Birmingham before the coronavirus outbreak as he aimed to maintain his fitness ahead of a possible move to an English club.

West Brom and Birmingham City are among the West Midlands clubs monitoring the situation of Ibahadon while Nottingham Forest are mulling over a move after he impressed in the 6-0 win against their U14 team in a friendly.

Though the highly-rated youngster is eligible to play internationally for Italy, he has pledged his future to Nigeria.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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