Strong performer

Published : Sep 20, 2008 00:00 IST

Gabriel Agbonlahor came through the youth ranks of his boyhood club, Aston Villa, and was elevated to the reserve side in 2004-2005 on the back of a prolific scoring record for the academy team, writes Andy Hampson.

Gabriel Agbonlahor is a promising Aston Villa striker whose development over the past two seasons has established him as a strong performer in the Barclays English Premier League.

Agbonlahor has been tipped for international recognition with England for some time and his start to the new season suggests it might not be far away.

A quick-moving and powerful player, he is a local boy made good having grown up in Birmingham and been spotted by Villa at a young age. He came through the youth ranks of his boyhood club and was elevated to the reserve side in 2004-2005 on the back of a prolific scoring record for the academy team.

His performances for the reserves were enough to earn him a two-year contract and he was immediately loaned out to English Coca-Cola Championship side Watford, for a month, and Sheffield Wednesday, for two, to gain first-team experience.

He did not score a senior goal for either club but benefited enough from the moves to break into the Villa first team later in the season.

He was handed his Villa debut against Everton in March 2006 and made a quick impression with a goal after 64 minutes, but it was a bitter-sweet afternoon as Villa was thrashed 4-1.

He saw out the season unspectacularly but manager Martin O’Neill kept faith in him the following year and was rewarded with some impressive displays.

A blistering spell early in the season saw him score four goals in six games and he went on to finish the campaign with 10 to his name.

Such was the impression he made that Nigeria, for whom he is eligible through his father, stated its intention to call him up. He declined the call and also played down the possibility he could represent Scotland, due to his Scottish mother.

He said he was only interested in playing for England, and he was picked by the Under-21s soon after.

Agbonlahor continued his progress in 2007-2008, netting 11 times as Villa did enough to earn a place in Europe via the Intertoto Cup.

He scored in four successive games towards the end of the season and he has continued in much the same vein this term, netting a seven-minute hat-trick against Manchester City.

Agbonlahor may be regarded as a bright prospect but he has certainly found it tough to make his mark on the big stage. He has endured a few lean spells and has frustrated as well as delighted fans. He started and ended the 2006-2007 season well but that campaign also included a run of 14 games without a goal. He had been playing out of position on the wing in a number of those matches, but O’Neill still took the decision to drop and rest him as pressure grew.

Agbonlahor may have started the season with those three goals against City but a Sunday newspaper recently told stories of another ‘treble’. The British tabloid claimed the striker had managed to juggle three girlfriends at the same time. Agbonlahor is still believed to be with one of them, called Elizabeth, with whom the newspaper claimed he has a baby.

Agbonlahor appears to love the trappings of his success having developed a reputation for designer clothes and flashy cars. One of his motors is an Audi A3 3.2 VR6, a powerful luxury family car at the top of its range. It costs around GBP27,000 and boasts a top speed of 147mph.

FactfileName: Gabriel AgbonlahorPosition: StrikerClub: Aston VillaDOB: 13/10/1986England caps: 0England goals: 0England debut: n/aMoment to remember

Not surprisingly, Agbonlahor’s single-handed destruction of Manchester City in August this year comes on top of the list of his career highlights. The youngster netted what is considered the ‘perfect’ hat-trick, scoring with his left-foot, right-foot and head in the 4-2 win at Villa Park. All three goals came in the space of seven minutes, making it the second fastest treble in English Premier League history behind Robbie Fowler’s four-minute effort for Liverpool in 1994.

Moment to forget

Agbonlahor is yet to suffer any major footballing traumas in his career and has a fine disciplinary record. He will, however, not care to remember much a 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth last March. In a game in which a clearance by goalkeeper Scott Carson rebounded off his own player into the net, Agbonlahor also missed a sitter when he failed to connect with a Shaun Maloney cross that presented a simple tap-in.

© PA Sport, 2008, All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, re-written, re-distributed or commercially exploited. Sportstar is not responsible for any inaccuracy in the material.

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