Matty Cash will now be worth double the price Nottingham Forest sold him to Aston Villa for following his World Cup debut, it has been claimed.
The 25-year-old left Forest for the Premier League club for a fee of around £16 million in the summer of 2020. The full-back had come up through the youth ranks at the City Ground before making an impact in the Reds' first team.
Cash has earned praise for his performances since completing the move, and was voted Villa supporters' player of the season for 2021/22. And now he is making an impact on the global stage after making his World Cup debut for Poland against Mexico on Wednesday.
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Cash is eligible for Poland through his grandfather and made his debut for the nation in November last year. He was named in the starting XI for Poland’s opening game in Qatar and played the full 90 minutes of the 0-0 draw.
Before the game, former England defender Rio Ferdinand delivered his verdict on the Forest old boy, claiming his worth has rocketed since arriving at Villa Park. "It's crazy, because when he signed for Villa for £20m-ish, people raised their eyebrows like ‘Wow, where’s this come from?’,” Ferdinand told BBC One.
“Now they’ve [Villa] doubled their money, maybe, if they wanted to sell him. He’s been a fantastic signing for Villa but the way he’s improved, his mentality is a testament for him.”
Cash could play his second game in the tournament in Qatar when Poland take on Saudi Arabia on Saturday (1pm kick-off). And the Poles will be hoping to fare better against the Saudis than Argentina, who lost 2-1 to the same opponents on Tuesday in one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.
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