The carrot-topped two time FA Youth Cup winner will want to help bring some silverware to Villa Park after twelve years without a major trophy
After a frustrating season at Stamford Bridge Sidwell jumped at the chance to join Martin O'Neill’s promising, young Villa side in July 2008.
The energetic midfielder started his career at Arsenal and helped the Gunners win the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001. But he was unable to make the breakthrough in north London and after loan spells with Brentford and Brighton he moved to Reading in 2003.
After helping The Royals to the Championship title in 2005-06 he was named in the division's Team of the Year by the PFA for the second consecutive season.
An impressive first season in the Premier League earned him a move to Chelsea when his contract with Reading expired in the summer of 2007. Frustratingly for Sidwell, things at Stamford Bridge didn’t quite work out.
With a host of world class midfielders higher up the pecking order, Sidwell’s opportunities were limited, prompting a move to Villa Park. The boy from Wandsworth will want to prove a point to his doubters and show he has what it takes to cut it at the highest level.