Jacob Ramsey has enjoyed a breakthrough season at Aston Villa, making 11 appearances across the board (Transfermarkt), but it remains to be seen if he’ll nail down a starting place just yet given the competition in midfield.
The 19-year-old currently finds himself behind John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Ross Barkley and Morgan Sanson in the pecking order, so he’s still making the majority of his appearances from the bench. And because of this, Gabriel Agbonlahor believes Ramsey might be loaned out next season.
He told Football Insider: “I rate him highly, he’s got loads of potential. The only hard thing for Jacob Ramsey is will he get the game-time that he needs to keep improving? He isn’t above the likes of Barkley and Sanson so it will be hard for him to get that game-time, especially with Villa out of the FA Cup.
“Maybe he needs to try and get a loan in the summer, go and play a season in the Championship or League One, just go and play some football. That will improve him. Getting 10 or 15 minutes here and there isn’t going to improve him as a player.”
Ramsey signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Villa in February, so it’s clear that his long-term future is in the Midlands as thought of highly, but his short-term future is uncertain.
The 19-year-old needs regular playing time for the sake of his development, but he’s only amassed 14 minutes of Premier League football from their last six games. If Ramsey can’t nail down a starting place at Villa, he might need to follow in the footsteps of Conor Hourihane and drop down a division to get opportunities.
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Agbonlahor has a point. Ramsey has great potential but that will go to waste if he’s sitting on the bench most weeks.
If he is only going to be used sparingly by Dean Smith, a temporary move away isn’t the worst idea.
