Aston Villa announce capture of former West Brom midfielder
Aston Villa have announced the free transfer signing of former West Brom midfielder Finley Thorndike.
The 19-year-old, who can play as an attacking midfielder or a left-winger, left the Baggies back in July and has been training with Villa ever since. The youngster also has the same agent as Villa duo Ezri Konsa and Jed Steer, ICM Stellar Sports, hence the move.
Villa academy boss Mark Harrison has described Thorndike as a ‘creative’ midfielder after the player penned terms at Bodymoor Heath.
Villa announced that Thorndike had signed a contract with the club after performing well for the Under-23s.
The youngster has played four times for the Under-23s, both in Premier League 2 and the Papa John’s Trophy.
He becomes the third youth player to swap West Brom for Villa over the past few months.
Thorndike joins Tim Iroegbunam and Finn Azaz at Villa Park, with all three pushing to eventually break into Dean Smith’s first-team squad.
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Villa told they’ll regret allowing duo to leave
Meanwhile, a pundit has claimed Aston Villa will ‘regret’ their decision to let Emi Buendia and Emi Martinez go on international duty.
The duo have joined up with Argentina ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia. UK quarantine rules mean Buendia and Martinez will have to isolate for ten days upon their return.
That means they will miss Villa’s Premier League clash against Chelsea on Saturday September 11. They will also be unavailable in the following game, which will see Rafa Benitez’s Everton travel to Villa Park.
Centre-back Tyrone Mings called the club’s decision ‘perfectly reasonable’, but pundit Paddy Kenny has some reservations.
He told Football Insider: “It’s a tough one because no player wants to miss playing for their country.
“That’s the pinnacle of their careers. But the club pays your wages, that’s your bread and butter.
“You’re going to miss games and it could cost your team league positions and money. Me personally, I think they will regret this.
“There are two big players there who are going to miss out against Chelsea.
“Maybe they are looking at this fixture thinking it’s one they’ve lost anyway. They might think it isn’t the end of the world losing that one.
“It’s a difficult one with everything that’s going on, it’s hard to say what’s right and what’s wrong. But your club football is your main concern.”
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