Aston Villa confirm signing of young England defender as Steven Gerrard sticks to promise

Aston Villa have completed the signing of young England defender Josh Feeney, the club has confirmed.

Feeney, who joined Villa last summer from Fleetwood Town and went straight into the accademy set-up has now been rewarded with his first professional contract following an excellent first year in the West Midlands.

The 17-year-old has caps at both England U16 and U17 level and was part of the Villa first team matchday squad on a couple of occasions last year including both matches with Burnley and the clash with Brentford.

Steven Gerrard is keen to keep progressing the youth at Villa and has stated numerous times that those that choose to put the work in, will reap the rewards.

Regardless of the big names that get brought in through this summer and beyond, there will always be a place at this football club for the youngsters to develop and grow.

We’ve seen that already with Jacob Ramsey and more recently Tim Iroegbunam. Now it’s Feeney’s turn to do just that.

What’s been said?

“We are really pleased Josh has signed his first professional contract after a very promising first season with us which led to him being involved in the first team,” explained Villa’s accademy manager, Mark Harrison.

“He put in some excellent performances last season which also saw him captain England at Under-17 level.

“We are all excited by his potential and with the attitude and application he has shown so far we are hopeful he can continue to develop and become a first-team regular.”

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