Aaron Presley jumped south from Scotland at an early age as he moved to Aston Villa – but it’s his transfer to Brentford that’s really proven fruitful.
The Scottish teenager, son of former Dundee United and Hearts man Steven Pressley, moved to Aston Villa early in his teens as he explored a career in football.
He had been trained by Hearts earlier in his youth career before Aston Villa came calling in 2014. His time in Birmingham came to an end earlier this year when former Hearts player Neil Macfarlane persuaded him to join Brentford’s B team.
Already he is experiencing first-team football. The young striker replaced Ivan Toney as the Bees beat Rotherham 2-0 this week, coming on as substitute for the final few minutes.
Aged 19 and with a new crop of talent set to come into Scott Gemmill’s U21s squad, there could be opportunity for Pressley to build on his Scotland U17s caps in 2021 with senior football at his door.
It would appear as if the decision to swap Brentford for Aston Villa is working out for Pressley and his next target will be to get more consistent minutes.