Aston Villa have left Carney Chukwuemeka out of their pre-season tour, according to reports. Liverpool supposedly want the player.
This comes from the Athletic. They claim that Aston Villa have not taken Carney Chukwuemeka with them on a pre-season tour as his future hangs in the balance.
The youngster’s contract will soon expire and while Villa have an offer on the table, he’s yet to sign it. That suggests Chukwuemeka sees his future away from Villa Park.
Fabrizio Romano carries quotes from Steven Gerrard on the situation and it doesn’t sound good for Chukwuemeka’s Villa future.
“Carney is yet to sign a contract offer that has been in place for some time,” said Gerrard. “I’ve decided the best thing would be to continue his training programme.”
Carney Chukwuemeka left out of Aston Villa tour
This is almost certainly of interest to Liverpool, who supposedly have eyes on Chukwuemeka. That’s according to the Guardian late last year, anyway – but we imagine most top clubs are looking.
After all, Chukwuemeka has long had a solid reputation as a young player and featured 12 times in the Premier League last season. That’s a fair amount for an 18-year-old – even if the minutes only totally 295.
Still, those around the player rate him incredibly highly. Ollie Watkins thinks Chukwuemeka could become an unbelievable player. Villa CEO Christian Purslow – ex-Liverpool, of course – had the player down as the best 16-year-old in England two years ago.
And so if Chukwumeka is now on his way out, we fully expect Liverpool to get involved. They won’t be the only ones, however, and competition could be quite fierce here.
We’re also not convinced that Chukwuemeka would play even semi-regularly at Anfield right now. That surely limits the Reds’ chances of getting him as leaving this Villa team to barely play makes little sense.
One to watch, then, but certainly not a straightforward signing.
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