Aston Villa: The bizarre Brad Guzan contract situation that was repeated a decade later
Aston Villa announced that American goalkeeper Brad Guzan returned to the club just three weeks after he was released ten years ago this week.
Guzan was coming off a promising 2011/12 season where he deputised well for Shay Given, impressing during a seven-game spell as Villa’s ‘keeper when Given was injured.
However, he had already been at the club for four years after arriving from Chivas USA in 2008, and had played more league football on loan at Hull than he had for Villa.
Despite his promising league form, Villa included him in their released list in 2012 with Guzan giving an interview to the Express & Star where he expressed a desire for regular football.
While fans might have expected a move to the Championship or back to America, the favourites for his signature were… Aston Villa.
Sure enough, he confirmed his return to the club on 16 July as Villa prepared to jet out to his homeland for pre-season under new manager Paul Lambert.
A curious repeat of events
If this happened today it would likely be met with confusion and the club being mocked on Twitter, but this was unusually common for Villa at the time.
Just two years earlier, Villa announced the departure of third choice ‘keeper Andy Marshall, only for him to return later that summer after failing a trial with Charlton.
It was bizarre how Villa treated backup goalkeepers back then, although Guzan would have his wish for first-team football granted by Lambert.
After Given had conceded four goals in the first two games of the new season, Guzan was thrown in for a match away to Newcastle and put in a Man of the Match performance as Villa secured a point.
He kept his place for the rest of the season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award despite Christian Benteke scoring 19 goals that season.
Guzan would go on to make over a century of appearances for Villa, eventually leaving for Middlesbrough after the club were relegated in 2016.
For reference, things also panned out quite well for Marshall who returned to Villa as a goalkeeping coach and later assisted his namesake Scott Marshall as caretaker manager for one game after Lambert was sacked in 2015.
History repeated itself a decade later as Ashley Young was named on Villa’s 2022 released list, only for him to sign a new contract weeks later.
Expect to see big things from Young next season if these two examples are anything to go by.
In other Aston Villa news, the club’s Young Lions are set to face off against Leamington later today.