Sky Bet League One promotion hopefuls Plymouth Argyle have completed the impressive signing of left-back Ashley Smith-Brown from Manchester City according to the Plymouth Herald.
The 22-year-old Manchester-born defender has never featured for the first team at City and has opted to leave the Etihad Stadium to further his career.
It has been reported that Argyle have signed Smith-Brown for an undisclosed fee while the club have not announced the full terms of the player’s contract at Home Park.
Smith-Brown joined the Manchester City academy at just five years of age and the defender successfully graduated through the various youth levels at the club. The player was a regular for City at Under-18 and Under-23 levels and captained his side on a number of occasions.
The youngster enjoyed his first taste of senior football during a season-long loan spell at Dutch club NAC Breda in 2016/2017. Smith-Brown made 30 appearances for the Eredivisie outfit in which he scored one goal.
Last season saw Smith-Brown feature on loan for two clubs. He spent the first half of the campaign with Scottish Premiership club Hearts but returned to parent club Manchester City in January following an injury-hit spell. He then joined Oxford United for the remainder of the season where he made nine appearances.
Ironically, it was Plymouth Argyle who knocked Manchester City out of the FA Youth Cup last season, although Smith-Brown had long graduated from the club’s Under-18 squad.
