Port Vale confirm the signing of Manchester City defender

Port Vale have confirmed the signing of Sammy Robinson on a permanent basis from Premier League side Manchester City.

An official statement said:

Port Vale Football Club is delighted to confirm the signing of Sammy Robinson on a permanent transfer from Manchester City.

The 20-year-old right-footed-defender joins us on an initial 18-month deal having been a part of the Citizens’ Under-23 squad.

Robinson was promoted to the EDS squad in January 2020 and has made 16 appearances in the Premier League’s development competition scoring one and assisting two goals.

He has represented England at Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17 level with a total of 26 caps at youth level.

This season he has already come up against League Two competition when he faced Scunthorpe United in the Papa John’s Trophy, Sammy featured for 45 minutes in a 3-0 win over The Iron.

The youngster, who started as a central defender and has also played right back, will give Darrell Clarke depth and competition in defence after losing Lewis Cass to injury late last week.

Talking about Sammy joining Vale, manager Darrell Clarke said: “He’s got great pedigree and it’s great that we’ve got him permanently, we can work with him and develop him into what we need him to be.

“We have lost Lewis Cass and with James Gibbons injured we needed someone that can give us the same options as those lads and he fits that criteria massively.

“He can play the right side of a three and even Right Back, he ticks the boxes that we need and we’re really delighted to bring him in”

On the deal, Director of Football David Flitcroft said: “It’s important that a club like Port Vale make relationships with the top clubs in the country, we know a lot of good people within the environment at Man City, Brian Barry-Murphy, Jason Wilcox and Fergal Harkin three guys who know the level and understand what it takes to be a footballer in the Football League, I’d personally like to thank all three of them for making this happen.

“We’ve been looking at Sammy for probably more than 6 months, he’s somebody who has been on our radar and we’ve been tracking him and after Cassy’s horrendous injury, it opened up an opportunity for us to bring in another defender.

“If fans have watched Under-23s football, he is different from the norm, he is different to most of the level and most of the players who play at that level.

“He’s a player that is almost like a throwback to an old pro, he’s got a real aggression to him, a real desire and a real motivation to do the other side of the game as well as being technically brilliant, he has learnt that from the environment he is from, he gives you so much more as a player and there’s a lot of depth to him as a person.

“Manchester City have opted to include a sell-on clause, which shows that they have the belief that the player has the ability to do well and make a name for himself.”