Villa rake in cash from Academy

Villa's potential sale of Luke Moore will bring the total money raised from Academy sales this season to a staggering £15m,

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Villa's potential sale of Luke Moore will bring the total money raised from Academy sales this season to a staggering £15m, writes Tim Nash.

But, far from selling the family silver, Villa are proving that only the jewels remain in the crown.

Moore's eventual £3.5m move to Albion will be the latest departure of the homegrown ranks since July following Liam Ridgewell to Birmingham (£2.5m), Steven Davis to Fulham (£4m) and, most recently, Gary Cahill to Bolton (£5m).

All apart from Cahill played in the successful FA Youth Cup-winning side of 2002 against a Wayne Rooney-inspired Everton.

Yet, as Villa prepare to step up their European challenge, the message from manager Martin O'Neill is if you want to be a part of his revolution, the bar has been raised.

Far from forcing any of the Academy graduates out of the door, O'Neill wants competition to be as keen as possible.

Cream they say, rises to the top and of those left, Gabriel Agbonlahor – possibly the biggest reason why Moore has failed to progress at Villa – would be worth £15m alone.

Captain Gareth Barry, snaffled away from Brighton at 16, would fetch the same, while in the current squad, Craig Gardner and Isaiah Osbourne are waiting to establish themselves.

The Villa boss would have preferred each of those who have left to have stayed but, when they found their way blocked, each player has chosen to pursue their career elsewhere.

In Ridgewell's case, the return to full fitness of Martin Laursen and the purchase of Zat Knight left him fifth choice centre-half behind those two, Olof Mellberg and Cahill, who faced a similar dilemma following the arrival of Curtis Davies.

Stiliyan Petrov has still to convince O'Neill and the claret and blue masses that he can be the driving force that made him a hero at Celtic.

But O'Neill's faith in the Bulgarian during a difficult first season was enough to force Davis at first into an unfamiliar wide position and then into the option of leaving altogether.

O'Neill's belief that Villa benefit long term appears to be justified, with the clubs each player has moved to struggling to stay in the Premier League, while Moore has dropped to the Championship.

None of the recent departures were forced upon the players, who had ample opportunities to prove themselves – Moore has had 98 games, Ridgewell 93 and Davis 102.

Cahill, who figured 30 times for Villa but another 48 occasions on loan for Burnley and Sheffield United, was perhaps the only one who many questioned whether enough had been seen enough at first team level in claret and blue.

Several reasons were behind O'Neill's decision to allow Moore to leave – not least Agbonlahor and the emergence of Marlon Harewood and the quality of the Academy back-up coming through in the shape of Nathan Delfouneso, who recently signed a three-year contract on his 17th birthday.

"I don't think there's anybody here, with the exception of Moustapha Salifou, who hasn't really had an opportunity to play. Other people have been there in front," said O'Neill.

"Another thing that made the decision a bit easier was Marlon, who still hasn't started a Premier League game for us but has had a major impact now.

"And you have the emergence of some of those boys at youth team level, which I like to keep an eye on. Don't for one minute think I'm pinning all hopes on an emerging young talent – that's not the case.

"Those people will develop. Some might develop rapidly, others may need more time.

"The (Moore) decision was a bit easier because with Gabby coming back from injury, who knows what might happen?

"We've also got three or four lads one game away from suspension. All of those things are parts of the equation. But you weigh them all up." O'Neill added: "If possible, I'd want a big commitment here (from Moore), then we'll look at it in the summer.

"I don't want to put pressure on an emerging young talent (Delfouneso). But I'm not going to pin my hopes on things.

"Gabby's been absolutely fantastic and John Carew is a big threat.

"In the summer, we're going to try to improve our squad again to give the young players extra time to come through.

"We don't want to rush them and put them under pressure the day that they step into the first team. They will be under enough pressure."

Villa's Academy director Bryan Jones believes Moore is at the crossroads of his career after emerging as the youngest and arguably most prodigious of the Class of 2002.

"As an under-16s player, Luke was outstanding, especially in the FA Youth Cup," said Jones.

"He's now at a big stage of his career. Last season was to be the one where he had to establish himself as one of the main two strikers and to do that he needed to score 20 goals in the league.

"I'm sure that's what his target would have been. The opportunity was there for him.

"He's still a young lad and he has a lot to learn.

"I don't know whether it's because of what he's done before – sometimes it's frustrating because you expect him to do things he was doing two years ago and he doesn't do them.

"He just needs to get back doing what he was doing back then.

"He's quick, aggressive and strong and in the season when he was our top scorer, I saw a side of his game which was new to me: he was physical.

"If he applies all those things to commitment, he'll score goals."