A fresh insight into the future of in-demand Aston Villa prodigy Carney Chukwuemeka has been provided on Friday.
The name of midfield talent Chukwuemeka, of course, has taken its place front and centre in the headlines at Villa Park over the course of the last couple of weeks.
This comes with the 18-year-old, widely regarded as one of English football’s finest up-and-coming youngsters, having been omitted from Steven Gerrard’s pre-season squad to have departed for Australia.
Chukwuemeka, for his part, has refused to put pen to paper on fresh terms in Aston, ahead of the expiration of his current contract in 12 months’ time.
Boss Gerrard therefore confirmed that:
“Carney is yet to sign a contract offer that has been in place for some time. I’ve decided the best thing would be to continue his training programme”.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 13: Steven Gerrard during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Aston Villa at London Stadium on March 13, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Despite the resistance of their midfield jewel, the widespread understanding, up until recently, was that the powers that be at Aston Villa were ready to rebuff any and all interest in Chukwuemeka’s services this summer.
It therefore came as a major surprise upon word beginning to surface that the youngster had in fact been made available for transfer, for a sum in the region of £20 million.
Such demands, however, have thus far put off any and all interested parties.
And now, an insight into just how heavy a financial hit the Claret and Blue could be dealt, in the case of Chukwuemeka moving on as a free agent next summer, has been provided.
As per Gregg Evans of The Athletic, the England youth international, who shone bright en route to glory with the country’s U19s at the European Championships this summer, will be entitled to depart for just £400,000 in a year’s time.
Not only that, but should Villa refuse to lower their demands this summer, Chukwuemeka could even put pen to paper on a pre-contract agreement elsewhere as early as January.
Two such clubs keen to take advantage of such a scenario, meanwhile, come in the form of European heavyweights Barcelona and AC Milan.
Barcelona and AC Milan lead the race to sign Carney Chukwuemeka.#AVFC have tried to extend his contract for 9 months. If he leaves this summer, they want a big fee.
Details:https://t.co/SFmdDnAkAe
— Gregg Evans (@greggevans40) July 22, 2022
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