Aston Villa midfielder Hayden Lindley is set to go on trial with League One side Cheltenham Town, according to Jon Palmer of Gloucestershire Live.
The 20-year-old is approaching the end of his contract with Aston Villa, as he is set to become a free agent in the upcoming summer and is now to be given his chance to impress in a two day trial with the Robins.
Aston Villa career.
Lindley joined Villa in 2019 from current Premier League champions Manchester City, during the 2020/21 season with the club, he helped guide them to an FA Youth Cup victory as they beat Liverpool 2-1 in the final.
He has made brief cameos in the Aston Villa first team, despite those appearances coming in the Premier League, coming off the bench in an FA Cup third-round tie against Liverpool.
As well as this, he has appeared in the EFL Cup for the club and the EFL Trophy for Villa. He is a mainstay in the reserve league for the youth side, making 13 appearances this season. Of those 13 games, there has only been one occasion he did not complete a full 90 minutes in a 4-3 defeat against Nottingham Forest.
Youth career.
Still at a young age, Lindley was part of Manchester City’s youth prior to joining Aston Villa four years ago. The English defensive midfielder spent the younger years of his career as part of the youth setup at Blackburn Rovers.
Throughout his time with Villa, the 20-year-old has moved between the three different teams the club has set up for youth as well as an unsuccessful loan spell with Newport County this season.
Unsuccessful loan spell.
The midfielder was loaned out to League Two side Newport County for the first half of the season in order to gain first-team minutes to further develop his career.
However, this proved to be unsuccessful for the youngster after making just five appearances for the club. Of those five games, he only completed a full 90 minutes once.
Subsequently following this, Aston Villa made the decision to recall Lindley in January and the midfielder spent time with the youth set-up at the club.
What’s been said?
Jon Palmer of Gloucestershire Live has reported that Lindley will be taking part in a two-day trial with the Gloucestershire based club, as Wade Elliot looks to bolster his squad.
The midfielder is out of contract this summer and it looks to be all but confirmed that he will not be with Aston Villa next season.
He is taking his chance to try and impress at the League One club and hopefully earn himself a contract with the club for next season.
Writers View.
Lindley is clearly talented as proven by his time spent with the youth side where he won an FA Youth Cup. Despite this, it has not been enough to keep himself on the books with Aston Villa.
He would not be the first from the Villa youth set up to spend time with the Robins. Last January, Aaron Ramsey spent the second half of the season on loan with the club and was very impressive.
It remains to be seen what Elliot’s plans are for the upcoming season as they head into their final game against Charlton this weekend, but should Lindley be with the club next season, it could be an exciting time.
