Aston Villa must quickly show Bertrand Traore the Villa Park exit door, Unai Emery can make space for another new transfer
With the Premier League campaign just a few days away now, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery will be hoping to add more quality but a few bit-part players may have to be shipped out quickly, especially Bertrand Traore.
The Villans have been superb in the transfer market so far, completing deals for Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Traore’s positional competition Moussa Diaby.
Unai Emery’s desperate need for attacking reinforcements have been well-documented since his appointment, with the Spaniard still impressively managing to secure European football for the Villans, despite possessing a depleted attacking weaponry at Villa Park.
And the signing of Diaby may not be enough for Aston Villa to compete on all fronts next season, with another attacker potentially targeted by the former Villarreal coach, but in order for that to happen, Villa will need to ship out some deadwood, and fast.
Emery did use Traore towards the end of last season, with the Burkina Faso star making just one start and seven appearances from the bench.
The 27-year-old scored two crucial goals against Leicester and Nottingham Forest, with the strike against the Foxes earning three precious points.
However, his immediate future looks away from Villa Park but there have been no developments regarding a transfer away which could derail Villa’s plans to sign another attacker in the coming weeks.
Even if Aston Villa are forced to keep Traore for the foreseeable future, there are very vast uncertainties that he’d improve Emery’s options after some under-par performances when given the opportunity last season.
In his last outing for Villa – the disappointing 1-0 defeat to Wolves – the winger was extremely disappointing, failing to complete a single key pass, dribble or through ball to inject life into Villa’s play. [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]
Over his last five appearances for Villa, Traore has only managed to amass seven progressive carries out of 44 attempted [FBREF].
If Aston Villa are to make an impression both on the European front and in the Premier League simultaneously, Emery will need rapid consistency from all of his frontmen as the quick turnover of games will be new territory for the whole club.
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 decent servant to the club, but he is no longer up to the standard that Aston Villa require.
The Villans certainly won’t hesitate to accept any kind of proposal to get Traore out of the club this summer. His exit can make space for more quality additions to the squad.
In other Aston Villa news, Diego Carlos may have to fight for his place after Pau Torres update emerges.