Not every plan for The Prospects column comes to fruition.
The idea for our piece from the Premier League 2 Second City derby between Birmingham City’s under-21s and their counterparts at Aston Villa, for the latest in The Athletic’s series charting some of the brightest talents emerging through Premier League academies, had been to focus on Villa’s attacking midfielder Ben Broggio.
Yet it was a wild, wet and windy night at Stratford Town’s Arden Garages Stadium, and not the ideal conditions for a young flair player to showcase his skills. Broggio has since joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on loan, where, one suspects, similar challenges may await.
Instead, it was more of a war of attrition between the two rivals, and both goals in a 1-1 draw came from set pieces, although there were a couple of moments of pretty poor finishing, too.
But there was one Villa player who did stand out on the night: a right-winger who has been converted into an attacking left-back.
The player
Name: Luka Lynch
Club: Aston Villa
Date of birth: January 11, 2007 (19)
Position: Right-winger or left-back
The backstory
Lynch was originally in the academy at West Bromwich Albion but moved to Villa in 2022 — a well-trodden route for young players in recent years after former West Brom academy manager Mark Harrison switched to Villa in 2019.
Around a dozen players have passed between the two West Midlands clubs since, and Lynch has teamed up again with fellow former Albion academy prospect Max Jenner.
The winger was a member of the under-16 squad that won the Premier League National Tournament in 2023, and signed his first professional contract later that year. He put pen to paper on another new deal in February 2025.
“We are delighted to see Luka sign a new contract,” Harrison told the Villa website at the time. “Luka is a left-sided, athletic and technical player who we believe has lots of potential.
“He can play in a variety of attacking positions and has the ability to create and score goals. We look forward to seeing how he develops over the coming seasons.”
Luka Lynch, left, battles with Blackpool’s Dominic Thompson during the Vertu Trophy in December 2024 (Tim Markland/PA Images via Getty Images)
What we saw
Initially, all eyes were on Broggio, but it was Lynch who lit up the derby with his attacking intent.
It was clear his instinct was to get forward at every opportunity, even from the left-back berth he has adopted. This may have provided space initially for Birmingham’s most dangerous attacking player, Zaid Betteka. There was one moment when Betteka found himself in so much space he seemed as surprised as everyone else and, as a result, failed to take advantage.
The plan soon became apparent as Broggio, who usually plays off the left, operated centrally, handing Lynch the responsibility to utilise the space that opened up in front of him to get forward in support of Kadan Young in attack.
Lynch carried the ball well and at pace, which you would expect from a player used to playing as a winger. He offered up a few tricks on the ball, too. There was a moment towards the end of the first half when he popped up on the more familiar right flank and created space with a step over before firing in a dangerous cross that was brilliantly defended by Birmingham captain Cameron Eubank just as Villa looked set to score.
Lynch was also on set-piece duties with Broggio and the two combined to provide the cross that led to Villa’s goal through Bradley Burrowes — although one subsequent intricate free-kick combination with Burrowes did go to plan and Lynch lost the ball, leading to a dangerous Birmingham breakaway.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 30, 2026
Overall, Lynch provided a prominent threat to Birmingham’s defence. More committed defending denied Villa a second from a low Lynch cross late in the game before Birmingham scrambled their equaliser in the last minute.
Only time will tell whether Lynch’s future is in the full-back role, but he did provide Villa with attacking options from that position.
His stats would suggest he hasn’t played a lot of games over the last two seasons, due mainly to injuries. As a result, he isn’t one of the Villa young prospects considered to be a leading talent — but a consistent second half of this season could benefit him hugely and change that perception, based on the display against Birmingham.
Then he may follow Broggio out on loan as he seeks to gain valuable first-team experience.