Even Aaron Tshibola’s manager at MK Dons expected better – the Aston Villa loanee appears to have already lost the trust of the majority at Stadium MK.
Villa spent around £70 million in Tony Xia’s first summer at the helm in order to attempt an immediate return to the Premier League. However, a number of the club’s most expensive imports, such as Ross McCormack and Tommy Elphick failed to fire as Villa eventually finished 13th in the Championship.
Arguably no one was more disappointing than Aaron Tshibola, however. The former Reading prospect barely featured once Steve Bruce replaced Roberto di Matteo at the helm and the 21-year-old’s form during a loan spell with MK Dons this season should explain exactly why the Villa boss was so quick to freeze him out.
Even Dons boss Robbie Nielsen admitted recently that Tshibola ‘hasn’t been one of the top performers’ for the club in 2017/18, per the MK Citizen. You’d be hard pushed to find a fan who disagrees.
‘Hasn’t been one of the top performers’
And a seemingly doomed loan spell has since taken a turn for the worse. Tshibola was shown the fastest red card in League One this season when hauling down Jake Reeves as the last man just five minutes into a 4-1 home defeat to Bradford City at the start of the month.
And despite returning from suspension for Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Walsall, Nielsen opted to leave the out-of-form midfielder on the substitute’s bench.
MK Dons fans have quickly ran out of patience with Villa’s forgotten man, whose penchant for crucial mistakes or disappearing entirely makes a mockery of his £5 million price tag.
If Tshibola can’t stand out in League One, what chance does he have with a team who want to return to the Premier League?
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
