Triston Rowe has caught the eye with Aston Villa and England youth teams
Aston Villa's Triston Rowe
Interest... Aston Villa's Triston Rowe(Image: PA)
Aston Villa youngster Triston Rowe has been turning heads at Bodymoor Heath for some time and is now out to impress with England at the under-19 European Championships.
Alongside Villa team-mate Kadan Young, the duo could play key roles as Will Antwi’s side aim for Euros glory in Romania.
Both players started England’s first group game against Norway on Saturday, but England were held to a 2-2 draw.
Rowe has featured at various England youth levels and helped the under-19s beat Portugal, France and the Netherlands in the last eight months.
The right-back joined Villa at the age of 14, signing on after previously playing for West Bromwich Albion.
As an Under-16, Rowe made his debut for the club’s Under-21s and also captained the Villa side which won the Under-16 Premier League National Tournament in October 2022.
He was named player of the tournament as Villa didn’t concede a single goal after beating Norwich, Bournemouth, Man City, Leicester, and Chelsea before defeating Reading 7-6 on penalties in the final.
At that stage, Rowe had emerged on the radar of a number of clubs across the country, including Chelsea.
Playing five years up from his age group, Rowe’s rise at Villa didn’t go unnoticed, and, as we know, Chelsea’s interest in Rowe formed part of a wide-scale investment plan at their academy level after budgets rose following the Boehly-Clearlake takeover.
The Blues later signed Carney Chukwuemeka from Villa and more recently Omari Kellyman, which banked the club around £40m from those two academy sales.
Triston Rowe of England
Triston Rowe of England(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Rowe signed a scholarship with the club in July 2023 and was named in the Guardian’s ‘Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs’.
“A tenacious defender at home at right-back or centre-back, the Birmingham-born teenager is viewed by academy staff as a bit of a throwback, such is his appetite to win duels and tackles and his pride at keeping clean sheets.”
The 18-year-old penned his first professional contract in October 2023 and hasn’t looked back since.
He was named on the bench for Villa’s Carabao Cup trip to Wycombe Wanderers in September, signing a new long-term deal a month later and again taking up a spot on the bench for an FA Cup defeat of Cardiff City in February.
At youth level, Rowe played a vital role as Villa’s Under-18s claimed a domestic treble, starring in both the Under-18 Premier League National Final and FA Youth Cup Final at Villa Park.
He missed just three Premier League 2 games, played all but one of the club’s five outings in the Vertu Trophy, and played every minute of Villa’s maiden UEFA Youth League campaign, wearing the captain’s armband and scoring in an emphatic 6-2 win away at Club Brugge.
On the international stage, Rowe’s suitors are likely to grow ahead of a possible loan move into the EFL next season.
He is one of a few players from Villa’s FA Youth Cup–winning team who could head out on respective loan spells this summer.
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