Nathan Delfouneso

Aston Villa

Born in Tyseley, Birmingham, Delfouneso, a product of the Aston Villa Academy, became a regular for both the club's reserve and academy teams in the 2006–07 season. He made his debut for the reserve team in March 2007, just a month after turning 16. His late goal gave Villa a 2–1 win against Portsmouth. In October, he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw with Reading. In February 2008, Delfouneso signed his first professional contract with Aston Villa, a few days after he was given the number 14 shirt for the first team - it was later reported in French magazine Onze Mondial that the number was chosen due to Delfouneso's admiration of striker Thierry Henry. He travelled with the squad for the game at Fulham, but missed out on the final 16. By the end of the 2007–08 season, Delfouneso had made 41 appearances for the Academy team, scoring 22 goals in the process.

Delfouneso made his competitive first-team début as a substitute in the away leg of the UEFA Cup second round match against Icelandic team FH Hafnarfjörður. This made Delfouneso the youngest player to represent Villa in European competition, at the age of 17 years and 195 days. He also came on in the second leg at Villa Park. He made his first competitive start in a UEFA Cup tie against MŠK Žilina, scoring with a left-footed volley after just half an hour. He scored again in his second start on 17 December, netting a consolation goal away at Hamburger SV. Delfouneso made his first domestic senior…

On the international scene, Delfouneso first came to notice playing for the England U16 team – collecting eight caps and scoring three goals during this period, two were scored in the 2006 Victory Shield. In October 2007, Delfouneso marked his debut for the England U17 team with a hat-trick in a 6–0 victory over Malta. Delfouneso made his debut for the England U19 team on 8 October 2008 in a UEFA Championship Qualifying tie against Albania. The striker came on as an 18th-minute substitute and netted the second goal in a comfortable 3–0 victory. He added another brace to his tally in the semi-final match against France to put England through to the final of the 2009 UEFA Under-19 Championship. On 22 February 2010, Delfouneso received his first call up to the England under-21 squad, On 3 March 2010, he scored on his debut for them against Greece in a 2–1 defeat. Delfouneso was named in the final 18-man squad for the 2010 UEFA Under-19 Championship, which took place in France. Delfouneso scored his second U-21 international goal against Iceland at Deepdale in a 2–1 friendly defeat in March 2011. He scored his third goal for the England under-21 team on 5 September 2011 in a 4–1 win against Israel at Oakwell.

As of match played 25 April 2023

Aston Villa

Football League Cup runner-up: 2009–10 Blackpool

EFL League Two play-offs: 2017 England U16

Victory Shield: 2006 England U19

UEFA European Under-19 Championship runner-up: 2009 Individual

Aston Villa Players' Young Player of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10 Aston Villa Supporters' Young Player of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10 UEFA European Under-19 Championship Golden Boot: 2009