Aberdeen sell Fletcher Boyd to Aston Villa for ‘a significant undisclosed fee’

Aberdeen have reluctantly agreed to sell attacker Fletcher Boyd to Aston Villa for what the club described as “a significant undisclosed fee”.

The 17-year-old, who scored in each of his first two appearances for the Dons at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, will join the Premier League club’s academy pending the outcome of the FIFA minor’s application.

Boyd joined Aberdeen in 2017 and has featured occasionally off the bench since Jimmy Thelin was appointed manager last summer.

Director of football Steven Gunn said the Pittodrie club have secured a sell-on clause in the deal.

“Fletcher is not one we had planned or wanted to sell at this time, but we’ve had to take this approach based on the circumstances we found ourselves in,” Gunn said on the Dons’ website.

“It was made very clear to us that Fletcher wished to explore this opportunity and that signing any contract extension beyond the less than two years remaining on his current agreement was going to be very unlikely.

“Therefore, we felt that now was the optimal time to trade him to not only maximise our value in the short term, but also to ensure there is significant potential upside for AFC in the future should Fletcher develop the way we all hope he does.

“We have already explained publicly the huge challenges faced not only by Aberdeen, but almost all Scottish clubs in this area. We also explained the subsequent adjustments we’ve made to our transition phase strategy as a result.

“We will closely monitor the outcomes of those changes in the months and years ahead.”