Villa offer Nigeria-eligible teenage midfielder Jamaldeen Jimoh his first professional contract

NIGERIA-eligible central midfielder Jamaldeen Jimoh has signed a professional contract with English Premier League giants Aston Villa after impressing the club with his performances as a youth scholar.

Jimoh, 17, joined Villa from West Brom about two months ago as a scholar and has put pen to paper on his first professional contract. Villa pulled off a massive transfer coup to land him on a scholarship deal in August, having seen off competition from the likes of  Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City.

Now, Jimoh's scholarship deal has been upgraded to a professional contract following his brilliant start to life at Villa Park. He opened his goalscoring account for Aston Villa's youth teams against West Brom, netting a brace in a 7-1 win in the U18 Premier League and also got on the scoresheet in a 3-3 draw with Leicester City U18 at the end of September.

Villa's academy manager Mark Harrison, said: "Jamal joined us in the summer and has recently put in some impressive performances in our Under-18s scoring four goals in his last three games."

Jimoh has been described as a  good ball manager who can be effective in and around both penalty boxes. He has represented England at U16 and U17 levels.