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NSWE make Aston Villa transfer blunder as Bertrand Traore money will never be as good
The curious case of Bertrand Traore will be one that remains in the minds of Aston Villa fans far and wide for a very long time.
After taking the Premier League by storm in his first season at Villa Park, his form went out of the window and not before long, he was on loan at Istanbul Basaksehir.
Sports Digitale journalist Yagiz Sabuncuoglu even reported that the Turkish club had an option to buy the Burkina Faso speedster in the upcoming summer window.
So, where did it all go wrong?
Traore was recalled to the club by Unai Emery in the January transfer window with more depth needed in the attacking third, but this has only had a negative impact.
Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens will be watching developments each week wondering why on earth they signed off on the deal to bring the winger back to Villa Park.
The 27-year-old has completed 51 minutes of action in the Premier League in two substitute appearances against West Ham and Bournemouth, each one nearly as bad as the other.
Failing to go past 70% pass success rate in either game shows his lack of composure on the ball, something that is critical in the system of Emery as he looks to build quickly [WhoScored].
Add on top of that the fact that he was dispossessed three times against the Cherries, more than anyone on the pitch throughout the 90 minutes, and the clinical edge is nowhere near good enough.
Compare this to his stats in his first season at the club, and he was a completely different player.
Traore was involved in 13 goals and was only dispossessed on average 0.7 times per game, as he supplied the most assists in a single season over his entire career [six].
If that kind of player arrived back at Villa Park, there would be no complaints, but he simply has not.
Yes, the money on the table for a permanent move to Istanbul was only an option, but the point is that NSWE may never see that high of a fee again, albeit unknown.
Given the performances of Traore since his return, no club in their right mind is likely to agree to a hefty figure, meaning the 27-year-old is going to have to sit and pray for a chance or agree to drop down.
Either way, Edens and Sawiris simply need to use this as a lesson in how to conduct themselves in the transfer market, with something like this unlikely to happen again.
If he was bad enough to be shown the exit door once, nothing is stopping it from happening again.
In other Aston Villa news, a first-team player is expected to return after the international break with a protective brace after what happened in 2023.