The infuriating Aston Villa wonderkid decision that paid off for Manchester City and Chelsea

Aston Villa news and history | The ex-Liverpool striker left Villa Park early on and moved on to Coventry City before spending time with Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League

Aston Villa are a club that pride themselves on spotting talent at a young age.

In 2020, players like Carney Chukwuemeka and Louie Barry are just two youngsters brought up, or acquired by the club with an eye on the future.

Gareth Barry, Jack Grealish, Gary Cahill and Gabby Agbonlahor are just a select few who have broken through the academy to some success, while Villa's roots spread across Europe when it comes to academy success.

However, while Villa are seemingly well equipped at keeping their young talent in the modern day and even spotting opportunities to acquire other young players, it wasn't always the case.

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And it really does hurt when you lose them young.

"Incredibly frustrating," is how former Villa Academy boss Bryan Jones describes that exact situation, one that he experienced many times during his Bodymoor Heath days.

Daniel Sturridge was one of a few who were pulled away from Villa due to outside circumstances, and even the Premier League's 'poaching committee' wiped their hands of Sturridge's move from Villa to Coventry City - to follow his father.

It didn't end brilliantly for the Sky Blues either - Manchester City attracted Sturridge, and were forced to pay Coventry just £30,000 after a compensation tribunal.

They didn't see that coming.

Wherever Sturridge went, tribunals followed - Chelsea, who brought in Sturridge after his early success at City were ordered to pay a compensation fee after yet another tribunal, but at the very least City were awarded much more than the Sky Blues!

It just goes to show - talent will be chased, and clubs will lose out to others, and predators can quickly become prey - and Aston Villa's loss was Manchester City's gain, as well as Chelsea's!

In the video above, Jones reflects on Daniel Sturridge's time at Villa, and how it all came to a sour end in football's never-ending pursuit for the next-big-thing.