A YOUNG footballer from Worcester has set his sights on becoming a Premier League star.

Dean Waldron, aged 14, has spent two years with Aston Villa and has impressed enough to earn a new two-year deal.

The right-sided player now wants to continue his progress in Villa’s under 15s and follow in the footsteps of fellow city footballer Nathan Baker.

Twenty-year-old Baker has established himself in Gerard Houllier’s team this season and once attended Christopher Whitehead Language College, where Waldron is now a student.

Mother Jacqui said: “Dean wants to make it as a footballer and play in the Villa first team. He is working hard to get an England shirt on his back as well.

“His goal in life is to be a Premier League footballer.”

Waldron, a paperboy for your Worcester News, started his fledgling career as a four-year-old attending coaching sessions at St John’s Sports Centre.

From there, he progressed into the youth ranks at Walsall, where his elder brother Mark also played.

Mrs Waldron added: “Aston Villa have been interested in him since he was eight but because he was signed by Walsall they couldn’t touch him. He felt he wasn’t progressing at Walsall so he left and was contacted by Villa, Birmingham, West Brom and Wolves.”

Dean, of Monarch Drive, also plays for the Whitehead team and the school allow him to train and study at Villa one day a week.