Aston Villa Football Club filled the gap left by Jack Grealish’s several month injury layoff. Dr. Tony Xia completed the loan signing of highly-rated Tottenham midfielder Josh Onomah.
Late Thursday evening the Mirror reported Aston Villa was closing in on a season-long loan for Josh Onomah. On Friday morning, the deal was confirmed by all parties.
Spurs and Onomah agreed to a contract extension until the summer of 2021. Villa will take the English midfielder on-loan for the entire 2017/2018 season.
Onomah, 20, is a massive talent on the continent, and that’s not hyperbole. He’s somewhat overshadowed by fellow youth team players who receive more match time from manager Mauricio Pochettino. Onomah is a number eight midfielder by trade; he’s a shuttler between the attack and defense, but Spurs’ myriad options in central midfield limited his time at the position.
Between Moussa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, Dele Alli, and Harry Winks, positions in CM simply were not there – hence, a loan move.
Hearing Aston Villa have landed the loan signing of Spurs midfielder Josh Onomah. @MirrorFootball
— Darren Lewis (@MirrorDarren) August 3, 2017
✍️ We are delighted to announce the loan signing of @JoshuaOnomah10 from @SpursOfficial...
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) August 4, 2017
Story 👉 https://t.co/H77TTXiytf#PartOfThePride
Josh Onomah was frequently trotted out as right midfielder at Tottenham – mainly as a substitute in the Premier League with a few starts in the Europa League. As could be expected from a teenager playing out-of-position, he struggled.
This summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup highlighted Onomah’s talents in the middle. Onomah starred the entire tournament as England won the title in South Korea.
This performance perhaps parlayed into a new contract with Tottenham. I say this because Mauricio Pochettino rarely sends youth players out on-loan, preferring instead to have them train with the first team back in London.
A loan move is typically the precursor to a player sale. Clinto N’Jie, Federico Fazio, and Nabil Bentaleb all are evidence of this. Though, Onomah’s move feels different considering the presence of a contract extension.
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Aston Villa Verdict:
Aston Villa once more picks-up a talented midfielder to add to its ranks. Onomah, in particular, helps fill the creative void left behind by Jack Grealish’s kidney rupture. It will be interesting to see if Steve Bruce deploys Onomah ahead of a Henri Lansbury and Glenn Whelan/Mile Jedinak pairing.
He could thrive in a ten role, but also helps add depth to several roles too.