Bertrand Traore has surely played his last game in an Aston Villa shirt, Unai Emery has lost faith
It came as no surprise to see Bertrand Traore remain an unused substitute for Aston Villa in the final day of the season showdown against Brighton.
Since returning to Villa Park in the January transfer window, the attacker’s impact has been limited to a string of brief cameo appearances and two Premier League starts that lasted just 62 minutes and 45 minutes a piece.
And after the Villans secured their first taste of European football in over a decade following the 2-1 win over Brighton on Sunday (28 May), it is becoming ever-clearer that the 27-year-old might have played his last game in a claret and blue shirt.
After being signed by Aston Villa for a fee of £17million in 2020 and initially impressing under Dean Smith, Traore was ostracised from the first-team set-up under Steven Gerrard and sent on a loan to Istanbul Basaksehir. [Sky Sports]
However, after missing out on his initial targets in the January transfer window, Emery recalled the attacker to bolster the attacking ranks and squad depth at Villa Park.
And after recovering from an initial niggle, he had a surprising impact that few Villa fans would have imagined, netting the match-winner in the 2-1 win over Leicester City and scoring a game later against Nottingham Forest.
However, ever since then, the 71-capped Burkina Faso international has been largely unused by Emery.
In the last eight games of the season, in which the race for European football reached its climax, Traore amassed a mere 108 minutes of action, remaining an unused substitute on four occasions.
In his last outing for Villa – the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Wolves – the winger delivered an extremely disappointing performance, failing to complete a single key pass, dribble or through ball. [WhoScored]
What was possibly more of an indication of the lack of confidence and attacking impetus Traore possesses was the fact that he carried the ball on 24 occasions, but just one of these was classed as a progressive carry. Over his last five appearances for Villa, Traore has only managed to amass seven progressive carries out of 44 attempted. [FBREF]
When comparing the former Chelsea academy graduate’s impact compared to his counterparts Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia, the gulf in class is clear.
According to WhoScored, Traore has averaged a measly 0.1 successful dribbles per outing compared to Bailey’s total of 1.2 and Buendia’s 0.7, while also only managing 0.1 key passes per game, which is considerably lower than both the Jamaican’s 0.9 and Buendia’s impressive 1.1.
Traore has been a brilliant servant to the club, but he is no longer up to the standard that Aston Villa require.
Unai Emery has seemingly lost trust in his ability in recent weeks, and the club should accept any approaches for his services in the summer transfer window.
In other Aston Villa news, a three-man La Liga blitz may be on the cards amid a potential reunion for Emery.