View: Morgan Sanson is done at Aston Villa, Unai Emery should already know
Aston Villa fans were very excited about the arrival of midfielder Morgan Sanson in January 2021, when a £15.5m deal was announced.
The former Marseille man had been a stand-out performer in Ligue 1 with Le Mans, Montpellier and Marseille between 2013 and 2020, with the youngster growing into a fully fledged midfield diamond.
Dean Smith splashed the cash to bolster the club’s midfield with a taste of European flavour, adding to the likes of Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Ross Barkley and Jack Grealish.
But since his move to the club almost two years ago, to describe it as anything other than a disaster would be a straight up lie.
Sanson has never been a goalscoring midfielder, but a playmaker who looks to use his fine passing range and intelligence to pick up dangerous positions to hurt the opposition.
But so far at Villa Park, Sanson has managed just 21 appearances in all competitions with zero goals and zero assists to his name [via WhoScored].
He’s managed just six starts in the Premier League under the trio of managers that have been at the club during his time here, and for some reason none of them have taken a liking to him whatsoever.
The 28 year old has suffered with injuries too, which certainly hasn’t helped, and he earned his first minute of the season during the 3-1 win over Manchester United in Unai Emery’s first game in charge when he came on as a stoppage time substitute.
But with an extra month to work with the players and knowing that certain individuals will improve under his stewardship, it’s clear now that Sanson doesn’t have a future with Aston Villa.
McGinn and Luiz are still ahead of him in the pecking order, while Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara are also regular starters at Villa Park these days. Then add to that Leander Dendoncker who joined in the summer, and youth prospect Tim Iroegbunam who has been shining on loan at QPR, then it’s clear there is no space.
Sanson’s contract still runs until 2025, but everyone should be looking to snap this partnership into pieces over the January transfer window and go their separate ways if they can.
He hasn’t featured in the mid-season friendlies during the World Cup and hasn’t been spotted in any training videos or behind-the-scenes pictures. Emery has seemingly made his decision.
It’s time to go, and it’s probably the truth that nobody will notice when he does.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery will be rubbing his hands together as Jorge Mendes pushes Joao Felix to Villa Park