The youth team in the final of the European Championship

Rays of Light: Rays Chukwamka is England's most prominent player

Karni Chukwamka rarely got minutes from Steven Gerrard in England, but was the most prominent player on the England youth team throughout the campaign.

He scored and cooked against Austria as well as Serbia and also dominated the semi-finals.

Now, he has one last task against Israel and he is the man who needs to be stopped (20:30, Sport 4)

Michael Yochin

01/07/2022

Friday, 01 July 2022, 15:38

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Aston Villa fans proudly and anxiously watch Karni Chukwamka's performance at the European Under-19 Championships. .

On the other hand, his fitness only intensifies the speculation surrounding his future, and the club may lose him already this summer.

Larger teams have long coveted him, since chairman Christian Preslo described him two years ago as "the best 16-year-old player in the country."

He is now 18 years old, and the first professional contract he signed last summer will expire in 2023.

The talks to extend it have so far yielded no results, because Chukwamka wants both better financial conditions, and a faster professional advancement track.

Currently, he is certainly in manager Steven Gerrard's plans, but has only started in the squad twice in the Premier League last season, and has partnered 10 more times as a substitute.

When he sees his peer Jude Blingham already starring for two years as a banker at Borussia Dortmund's midfield, one can understand why he has thoughts of leaving and the yellow-blacks from Germany are indeed on the long list of clubs that have sent scouts to the current championship.

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Chukwamka (Photo: GettyImages)

Chukwamka was marked as a super-talent as early as the age of 13, when he joined the Aston Villa academy at Northampton.

Over the years, he has not hesitated to compare himself to Paul Pogba, proving himself as a powerful wide-open midfielder with well-developed senses for scoring goals - a trait that all of his youth coaches have encouraged.

"Karni is simply on a different level. He attracts an audience, and children from lower age groups come to his games just to watch it. He makes the game look very simple, and moves effortlessly between opponent players. In terms of creativity, we have never had a talented boy like him." Told the team’s coach until age 15, Jamie Wilcox.

In 2019, this group reached the Cup final, and Chukwamka was the undisputed leader.

Although his position was relatively withdrawn, he scored a hat-trick in a variety of tournaments on 6 different occasions.

So by the end of the 2020/21 season he was already called up to the senior squad by then-manager Dean Smith, who received daily reports of excellence in the team uniform up to the age of 18. That same year, Aston Villa galloped to win the trophy, and the leading midfielder gave a brilliant 1: 6 performance On Newcastle in the semi-finals.

In the final there was a 1: 2 victory over Liverpool, and Gerrard - then still the Rangers coach - was a bit disappointed.

A few months later, he was given the privilege of working with Villa's youngsters, and got to know Chukwamka, who naturally won the club's young player title last season.

The thing is, it's really not easy to find a place in the lineup for him.

Jacob Ramsey, who is very reminiscent of Gerard in his qualities, is the most promising young player at the club.

He is two years older than Chukwamka, he has much richer experience, and some would argue that his potential is also higher.

He was favored, and rightly so, in midfield alongside Douglas Louise and the combative John McGuinn, and when Chukwamka unusually opened the lineup against Burnley in May, he did so in a more forward role in the 1-2-3-4 formation.

Not sure it suits him, as he is more efficient with wider areas ahead of him, as could be seen when he became Aston Villa's youngest cook in the league, in a brief appearance as a substitute against Norwich.

And while French central midfielder Bobcar Camara was acquired this summer from Marseille, Chukwamka's chances of getting a fair chance in the squad will be even lower.

One option would be to move him on loan, but the player's agent is trying to take advantage of the pressure to promote a great made, and Aston Villa are hesitant to sign the boy on an overly fat contract right now.

Thus, you may have to sell it now so as not to lose it for free in a year.

A year ago, the investigations of Manchester United and Liverpool were postponed, but this time the situation may be different, and Dortmund is definitely in the picture as well.

Of course, such a move will not guarantee him a place in the squad with richer staff, but quite the opposite, but his shares will rise, his salary will be significantly upgraded, and the loan to a team that can build the center of the field around him will be more attractive to him.

Karni Chukwamka is the player that Israel will have to stop (Photo: GettyImages)

Aston Villa, for its part, declares that it is still doing its utmost to sign its diamond on a long-term contract.

"I very much hope Karni will be a great player at Aston Villa for many years to come. We want him here and believe this is the right place for him. And I always say that the youngsters will get priority if they are more worthy to play compared to the veterans, "Gerard stated.

In the meantime, he is concentrating on the team, and has so far been England's most prominent player on his way to the final.

The best-known name on the squad, Manchester City striker Liam Dlap, remained on the bench and got a chance only in the last game in the home leg in which he scored against Israel, but Chukwamka shone all the way.

He scored and cooked in a 0-2 win over Austria in the opening game, repeating the 0-4 win over Serbia in the second round.

After dominating the exciting move of 1: 2 over Italy in the semi-finals, he had only one task left.

Another victory over Ofir Haim's team will give him another title in his young career.

Maybe the "home" sacrifice also does him good.

Chukwamka, a son of Nigerian immigrants, was born in the eastern part of Austria, right on the border with Slovakia, only 120 km from Tarnava where the final against Israel will take place. He moved to the kingdom as a small child, but can currently choose between three national teams. The favorite, of course, is his country and he is leading a crazy life in the youth teams, but Nigeria and Austria can also in principle strive to persuade him to represent them. To that end, he needs to make the right decisions about his immediate future, and a decision will be made soon.

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