Aston Villa set to sign West Brom midfielder Jamal Jimoh as £1m fee agreed
Aston Villa have agreed a fee to sign West Brom academy midfielder Jamal Jimoh this summer, according to Birmingham Live journalist Joe Chapman.
The teenager, who has five caps for the England Under-17 team, has been tracked by a number of Premier League clubs including, Tottenham and Manchester United.
Jimoh will begin as a scholar after completing a £1million transfer to Villa Park, with the Baggies also to get 10% of any future fee for his services.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday (13 June), Chapman wrote: “I gather West Brom academy midfielder Jamal Jimoh is leaving for Aston Villa.
“Albion did have a pre-contract agreement in place with the player and his reps, but Villa have agreed a fee.
“Jimoh is an England U17 international.”
Familiar path
West Brom have a knack of losing their academy starlets to their local rivals, with Jimoh following the likes of Tim Iroegbunam, Finn Azaz and Finley Thorndike, Triston Rowe and Luka Lynch in making the switch.
The list of players who have moved onto Premier League clubs from the Baggies academy is growing ever longer, and this remains a problem for the club in the big picture.
If they want to become a sustainable top-flight club once again, they simply can’t afford to lose players of this ilk.
Although this is yet another bitter blow to the youth ranks and the players who could have potentially risen the ranks to the first-team, it is a decent deal for the Baggies financially.
Getting £1million, as well as 10% of a future sell-on fee, is smart business from the club, especially if Carlos Corberan could not give him immediate first-team football at The Hawthorns.
In other West Brom news, contact may have already been made over a managerial move from the man running the show at Elland Road.