Robert Pires having reached the ripe old age of 37 has well and truly reached the autumn of his career. Despite leaving for Villareal in 2006, he remains an Arsenal legend. As a man who has been playing football professionally for almost 20 years and has seen and played alongside some of the greatest young talent in Europe, he’s in a great position to judge the credentials of his new club Aston Villa.

The midfielder has joined Villa on a free transfer until the end of the season, after he left Villareal over the summer. Fair play on him for joining such an ambitious and talented team. He could have gone the route of many other professionals and gone to play in the States or in the lower leagues. It reflects well on his apparently still burning desire and ambition that he didn’t.

He remains in fine shape since Arsène Wenger let him train with Arsenal when he left Villareal this summer. As such, even though he left Arsenal four years ago, he’s still had a chance to get a good look at Arsenals new breed of talented youngsters – the likes of Wilshere, Gibbs, Eastmond, Jay-Emmanuel Thomas et al.

Thus he’s in a good position to compare Arsenal and Aston Villa’s youth. He told the press, “Aston Villa have some very good young players – they are similar to Arsenal’s. Arsenal have a good reserve side but I saw this morning there are some very good young players here. They are relaxed with the ball with good quality and good vision.”

Injuries have deprived Villa of a number of important players this season, with the likes of Emile Heskey, John Carew and Nigel Reo-Coker missing. As a result Villa has been forced to thrust their youngsters into the spotlight.

Whether or not these youngsters are quite as talented as those who ply their trade at Arsenal remains to be seen. I have to say that from what I’ve seen so far, I agree with Pirés – Villa have a generation of talented youngsters on their hand.

Mark Albrighton, just 20 years old made an immediate impression with a man of the match performance on the first day of the season against West Ham. He’s hard working and is sure to make the right-side of Villa’s midfield his own in the coming years. Villa have been keen to tie down Barry Bannan, also 20, who recently signed a new contract with the club. Bannan is full of energy, determination and drive and looks a real prospect.

Then there’s Ciaran Clark who captained England Under-20’s before switching his allegiance to the Republic of Ireland (where he’s sure to find more game time). He’s a versatile defender who has shown he can perform even if he’s put in the defensive midfield position. Nathan Delfouneso has also been quietly impressive this season. Despite not getting a chance in the Premier League until recently he has already found his scoring boots in the Carling Cup, FA Cup and the UEFA Cup.

It’s these players that are the future of Aston Villa FC. The silver-lining of Aston Villa’s injury-crisis is that their players of the future are currently getting experience in the first team. Some of them may even keep the more experienced, older players out when they return from injury.

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