Highly rated Aston Villa starlet emerges as loan target for Bristol City

Bristol City are in the market for a defensive midfielder and may have found one in Alex Scott’s teammate.
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Aston Villa’s highly rated midfielder Tim Iroegbunam has emerged as a potential target for Bristol City.

A total of six Championship clubs are interested with the Robins being one of them as for the first time in almost two years, they will consider taking another club’s player on a temporary basis.

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The next two positions on the agenda for City is a new centre-back and a midfielder, preferably one that focuses more on the defensive side of play.

After pulling out of the race for Andy Rinomhota who left Reading on a free transfer for Cardiff City, attentions have now turned elsewhere.

BirminghamLive has been told that City along with Sheffield United, Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City have all lined up to take the player this season.

One other team that may be favourites to sign him are Queens Park Rangers with Michael Beale, Steven Gerrard’s former assistant head coach at Villa Park and at Rangers, also interested.

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The 18-year-old is contracted to the Villains for the next five years after signing a new deal in March which is an indication of how highly rated he is by the one-time European Cup winners.

The midfielder is currently away on international duty and is a teammate of Alex Scott as the pair hope to win England the under-19 European Championships.

Iroegbunam has played three times in the Premier League and started against Norwich City back in April. For the academy sides of Villa and West Brom, he mainly played as a central midfielder, getting five goals and five assists in youth competitions but he can also fill in defensive midfield and has played there 16 times.

Last season, Pearson opted not to bring in any loan players and instead worked with the players he had, both in the senior team and in the academy.

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Since his arrival back in February 2021, the 58-year-old has opted to recruit players on a permanent basis, either for a fee or on a free transfer.

City's last loan signings were Alfie Mawson and Steven Sessegnon, both signed by Dean Holden from Fulham with a difference in experience.

However this season, it looks like that the club could be dipping their toes into the market again as they look to add to the three signings of Mark Sykes, Kal Naismith and Kane Wilson.

Speaking last week to the assembled press, Pearson said: My stance on loans is, if you look at my history at different clubs, I’ve utilised it a lot.

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"I don’t honestly think the culture within the club was strong enough to have too many loan players. Because to have them come in and be successful you need quite a clear identity already. "I’m not ruling out loans at all, far from it.

“We’ve been in contact with a number of clubs in terms of availability to take players on loan. But, again, it’s not just about filling spaces, it’s about getting the right players. It’s something that we’ve explored, and we will continue to."

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