If Unai Emery represents Villa’s best appointment of recent seasons, then Mark Harrison is not too far behind.
Poached from West Bromwich Albion in 2019 and asked to overhaul Villa’s academy system, this is the second time since Harrison’s arrival that Villa have reached the FA Youth Cup final.
Before that, they had reached only one final in 16 years.
Former chief executive Christian Purslow believed hiring Harrison was among his most crucial decisions in five years at Villa Park.
And with the Premier League’s financial restrictions a constant headache for Villa, selling homegrown players like Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey and Jaden Philogene has been crucial.