Aston Villa boss Dean Smith says they have a set plan for Carney Chukwuemeka.
Smith has told BirminghamLive that Villa have a plan for Chukwuemeka with the standout talent being amongst the first-team group since January.
"He's got a pathway at the football club," Smith said. "He's got a plan at the football club.
"He's doing extremely well. He's training with the first-team regularly. He's been on the bench for us. He's been in a number of squads and he's doing excellently. We're really pleased with his progress so far."
On the hype surrounding Villa's 6ft playmaker, Smith added: "Yes, there has to be a little bit of... He's doing very well in age-football at the moment and I recall watching Wayne Rooney play against Aston Villa in the FA Youth Cup final in 2002...
"I remember watching the game and he developed very quickly as a player. Our job is finding that balance for their development; the maturation of the players. Carney's in a good place with us at the moment training with us and he's enjoying he's football.
"You could see against Newcastle (FA Youth Cup quarter-final) he was the standout player."
