Aston Villa 2017-18 player preview: Callum O’Hare

If Aston Villa ever happen to lose Jack Grealish to another team, they are in an incredibly fortunate to have this man waiting in the wings, and he could become one of Villa’s greatest. That’s no joke - and it certainly isn’t too soon to say that, at all - not if you have seen him play. Composed, smart, athletic - O’Hare can play across the front and cause some trickery. He’s light-hearted and light on his feet. Pretty much a joker by name, joker by nature - but when it comes to the serious business of football, you’ll see a tricky player who isn’t scared to take on big defenders. He’ll punch above his weight.

Plenty of us were exposed to Callum thanks to Villa’s U23 cup runs, but the rest saw his talents for the first time in pre-season, when he helped tear Telford apart and had a good spell against Duisberg. What we don’t see from O’Hare in terms of production or scoring stats (yet), we see in pure effort on the pitch. Always looking to bring anyone he can into play, Callum makes goals, even if he doesn’t pick up the assist or goal himself!