With the news Chris Wood will be moving to Leicester City for about £1.25 million with add-ons, a landmark may just have been reached in our clubs history.
I believe Chris Wood will become the first player from the clubs youth team to have been sold for over 1 million pound directly from the club. We have had players who have started life here move for over 1 million later in their careers like Carlton Palmer and Ugo Ehiogu but never from the clubs academy straight to another team for over £1 million pounds. Of course Wood isnt quite home grown having come here at 16 from a New Zealand side but he has still been develpoed from the age of 16 much like many other clubs academys in recent years (think almost any one from Arsenal in the last 10 years and Garteh Barry at Villa.
As well as Wood's sale, this week also sees another chance for a landmark as George Thorne has the opportunity to become the first academy player to cement a place in the side while in the top flight in the premier league era.
These are small steps for the academy but they do signal that it is finally starting to bear fruit, albeit slowly. I have wondered about the pace of progress but this weekend I would imagine is one which those inside the clubs will be quite pleased with.