Finley Thorndike at Aston Villa after leaving West Brom
Former West Brom star Finley Thorndike has been taken on trial by Aston Villa at Bodymoor Heath this week.
The under-23s talent left the Baggies in July, and is looking to make it yet another youngster to cross that line.
Birmingham Live have shared the major update with Thorndike out to impress at our nearest rivals.
This could be the fifth player with Baggies influence to make the switch to Villa since they placed Mark Harrison in charge of their academy.
Thorndike left in order to pursue other opportunities, and our Midlands rivals are just ready to swoop at every chance given to them.
Tim Iroegbunam, Finn Azaz, and Triston Rowe are three to already make the move, and this one would make it four.
Luke Dowling may have also left the club this summer, but there has to be a change of thought in the academy and the way it is set up.
Change.
Something needs to happen, and quickly.
We are losing numerous young players from our set-up every single year, and it hurts, even more, when it is to our near rivals.
Thorndike isn’t in contract with the club, so it won’t be as much as a loss as the others, but it still follows the same principles that we can’t secure long-term deals for these players.
Valerien Ismael has started to introduce more young players into first-team training, and hopefully, the Frenchman can start to implement a new system.
If our younger players can see a clear path to the first team, why would they want to move elsewhere? Especially to Aston Villa – fingers crossed.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies transfer plans could be hit by ‘major’ blow – Chris Lepkowski