Report: Aston Villa beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City to wonderkid signing

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Aston Villa have reportedly beaten the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the race for Cole Brannigan.

This is according to Ashley Preece of the Birmingham Mail, who confirmed prior reports on the subject.

Last week, the Belfast Telegraph claimed that the Villans were ‘set to win the race’ for the Northern Irish youngster.

The outlet reported that City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Leeds were also eyeing Brannigan.

Despite the fierce competition, Villa had ‘moved into pole position’ for the Linfield winger.

The claret-and-blue outfit would apparently be paying in the region of £150,000 for Brannigan, who’ll be joining in summer.

‘Many at Windsor Park feel has the ability and attitude to be a hit in England,’ added the report.

And today, Preece said that reports claiming the Villans had landed Brannigan were in fact true.

He was asked: ‘Is there any truth we have beat a host of top clubs to sign a promising young lad from Northern Ireland?

Preece replied: ‘Young teenage winger Cole Brannigan, yes mate, expected to sign terms with Villa. Man City were also in for him.’

Winning formula for Villa

Villa have worked hard in recent years to bring talented youngsters to B6.

The likes of Louie Barry, Kerr Smith, Josh Feeney, Ben Chrisene, Caleb Chukwuemeka and Rory Wilson have all arrived in the past few windows.

Now, it looks as though another top talent will soon be plying his trade in claret and blue. This is despite competition from the likes of Chelsea, City and Liverpool.

Villa clearly have a winning formula when it comes to convincing young stars to join their academy and hone their skills.