Stiliyan Petrov was not offered a contract by Aston Villa, having trained with the club over the summer.

Stiliyan Petrov has opened up in an interview on TalkSPORT about not being offered a contract by Roberto Di Matteo.
The Bulgarian had been training with the club after recovering from acute leukaemia, which halted his playing career in 2012. Petrov was Aston Villa captain at the time of diagnosis, and had confirmed that he wanted to return to playing after beating the disease last year.

The 37-year-old had trained with Villa over the summer, who were relegated to the Championship last season, but has been told by new manager Di Matteo that he will not be offered a contract. Petrov was offered a role with the club’s youth academy, but the midfielder turned that down, preferring a return to playing action.
In the interview with TalkSPORT (15/9/16), Petrov admitted that he was “very disappointed” that he was not offered a contract.

Aston Villa have had a stuttering start to life in the Championship, and currently sit in 17th place with seven points from seven games.
Fans of the club have taken to Twitter to react to their former captain’s comments. While some believe the cancer survivor should have been give a deal, others have been less supportive towards their former skipper.

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