Aston Villa outcast Bertrand Traore wanted in transfer by Basaksehir – report
Turkish Super League side Istanbul Basaksehir are keen on signing Aston Villa winger Bertrand Traore this summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The 26-year-old was largely an outcast last season having made only nine Premier League appearances and Steven Gerrard is yet to give him a chance this campaign.
Offers from Turkey are expected to arrive at Villa Park in the next few days with Basaksehir leading the chase for the Burkina Faso international who Villa are willing to listen to offers for.
Traore is not the only player who could leave before the transfer deadline strikers on 1 September with several fringe players on the chopping block.
The Villans would be highly unlikely to regain the entirety of the £17million they spent on the 26-year-old in 2020 but this is the best chance they will get to sell him and Turkey looks to be the destination for him.
Missed opportunity
Gerrard could come to regret forcing Traore out of the Villa Park door but he won’t even realise right now having not given him the chance to prove himself since he arrived in the Midlands.
He has that something special that scares defenders and opposition managers to the bone and it is something Aston Villa should be trying to embrace.
Unpredictability.
Even he might not know what he is going to do with the ball when he gets control of it and that should be a good thing because he has the talent to come up with something out of nowhere and produce a match-winning moment.
Of those currently in favour with Gerrard, no one has that ability to turn a tight game in one genius moment and it will prove to be the downfall of the manager unless he brings in another unpredictable attacker or chooses to keep Traore a little longer.
In other Aston Villa news, the club are likely to head to the loan market in search of a new defender after Diego Carlos’ injury problems.