Aston Villa academy product explains why he has joined Premier League rivals

Cameron Archer has set his sights on regular first-team football after the Aston Villa striker completed a reported £18million move to Premier League rivals Sheffield United.

The England Under-21 striker came through the academy ranks at Villa and made his senior debut in a Carabao Cup tie against Crewe Alexandra in August 2019 before going on to spend time on loan at National League club Solihull Moors. A Premier League debut finally arrived as a late substitute in a 1-0 win at Manchester United in September 2021 just weeks after Archer bagged a hat-trick in a 6-0 win at Barrow.

However, it was away from Villa Park where the striker really caught the eye as he scored seven goals in 20 appearances during a loan spell at Preston North End during the first half of last season before finding the net on 11 occasions in 23 games during a similar stint with Middlesbrough during the second half of the campaign.

Both Championship clubs were linked with a permanent move for Archer earlier this summer and Leeds United are also believed to have shown interest in the striker as they look to bounce back from relegation into the second tier at the first attempt. But Archer will finally get a chance to shine in the Premier League after moving to Bramall Lane and he has already set out his targets for his time with the Blades.

After putting pen to paper on a four-year deal he said: “Everyone is happy if they are playing football regularly.

“That’s something I want to do now. I think it was important to come here and look for Premier League football. That was key for me because I want to make that next step now and challenge myself.

“Sheffield United have a long history of developing players in terms of playing and hopefully making better people as well.”

Wolves push for Swiss defender

Gary O’Neil is reportedly targeting a cut-price move for Borussia Monchengladbach defender Nico Elvedi.

Much of the transfer talk at Molineux has surrounded the future of Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes, who continues to attraction interest from Manchester City as the summer transfer window enters its final days. The treble winners are expected to return with a second bid for the Portugal international after they were said to have seen an initial bid rejected last week.

O’Neil will hope to be handed funds to improve his squad if the deal goes through and the Wolves boss is believed to want to add a centre-back to his squad over the coming days. TEAMtalk have reported the departures of Nathan Collins and Conor Coady have hastened the need for a new defender to be brought in and revealed Swiss international Elvedi has been placed at the top of O’Neil’s list of targets.