Aston Villa look a good bet to make the play-offs in the Championship this season, as they desperately look to return to the top table of English football.
Villa were relegated from the Premier League in 2016, ending a 28-year stay in the top flight. I hate the tired old who is and who isn’t a big club arguments, but Aston Villa are an institution of English football, and the biggest club outside the Premier League in terms of trophies won and average attendances.
Today we cast our minds back to Villa’s last season or so in the Premier League, and in many respects to where it all went wrong, with their transfer activity.
Here are Aston Villa’s last 7 Premier League signings: Where are they now?
7. Matija Sarkic – Aston Villa
We kick off this seven with Grimsby-born but Montenegrin youth international Matija Sarkic, who also happens to be the only player in this seven who is still contracted to Aston Villa. Sarkic was just 17 when he signed for Villa in 2015, and now aged 21, he’s still yet to register a first team appearance for the club. He had his third loan move away from Villa Park earlier this season, having previously had stints at Wigan Athletic and Stratford Town, Sarkic temporarily joined Havant & Waterlooville in the National League in January.
6. Joleon Lescott – Loanee Player Liaison at Man City
Former Wolverhampton Wanderers players Joleon Lescott and Matt Murray prior to the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester City at Molineux on August 25, 2018…
Ten years ago, Joleon Lescott was one of the most highly regarded centre-backs in the Premier League, an England international and on the verge of a huge move to Manchester City. He never looked that impressive at the Etihad though, and in 2015, after a single season at West Brom, he joined local rivals Aston Villa. Lescott’s time at Villa Park could generously be described as abysmal. His performances were dreadful, and he didn’t help himself by tweeting a photo of a Merc the same day the team lost 6-0 which he made an embarrassing excuse for, and then describing it as a “weight off the shoulders” when the club were relegated. Lescott retired from football in 2017 after a brief stint at Sunderland, and now works as a loanee player liaison at his former club Manchester City, where he is tasked with offering support and mentorship to a handful of young players on-loan from the Etihad.
5. Adama Traore – Wolves
One of the most curious footballers we’ve seen in the English game for a very long time, Adama Traore is lambasted for his lack of end product, and unlike in many other cases – in his case, such criticisms seem entirely just. Traore is what you’d call an explosive wide man, he’s brilliant on the ball, he’s lightning quick and he can beat players for days. The problems occur after he’s left them for dead, when Traore’s finishing and deliveries into the box so often let him down. This was the case at Aston Villa, and it’s still the case now with his current club Wolves. At the age of 23, Traore still has plenty of time to work on his game, and it’d be such a shame if he was never able to tie it all together.
4. Rudy Gestede – Middlesbrough
25th September 2018, Deepdale, Preston, England; Carabao football, third round, Preston North End versus Middlesbrough; Rudy Gestede of Middlesbrough comes under pressure from Jordan…
A former teammate of Adama Traore’s at both Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, Rudy Gestede was brought to Birmingham having scored prolifically at Blackburn Rovers. He set the club back around £6 million, but managed only 5 goals in 32 games for Villa in the Premier League. He stuck around for one more season in the Championship, where he struck 4 times in 18 outings, before joining Middlesbrough for roughly the same price that Villa had paid for him.
3. Jordan Veretout – Fiorentina
Probably the biggest success story in this seven in terms of his career since leaving Aston Villa, Jordan Veretout arrived in Birmingham with a big reputation. He had starred in a midfield three alongside Paul Pogba and Geoffrey Kondogbia at the 2013 U-20 World Cup, and he’d backed that up with impressive form at Nantes in the top flight of French football. Villa signed him for £8 million under the stewardship of Tim Sherwood, but the midfielder failed to make a big impression during his 25 appearances, with some pointing to a language barrier and personal issues preventing him from producing his best form. Veretout was sold to Fiorentina at a loss in 2017, where his performances have seen him linked with Inter Milan, but the 26-year-old Frenchman remains in Florence for now.
2. Jose Angel Crespo – PAOK
Davide Zappacosta of Chelsea is challenged by Jose Angel Crespo of PAOK FC during the UEFA Europa League Group L match between Chelsea and PAOK at Stamford Bridge on November 29, 2018 in…
A UEFA Cup winner with Sevilla way back in 2006, Jose Angel Crespo has since had nine different permanent or loan moves taking him to four different countries. He signed a three-year deal with Villa in 2015 having arrived for an undisclosed fee, but lasted just a single season registering one league appearance and two in all competitions at Villa Park. He signed for Greek outfit PAOK in 2016, and the 32-year-old is now in his third season with the Greek champions elect.
1. Jordan Ayew – Crystal Palace
Of all the players in this seven, Jordan Ayew probably had the most successful Aston Villa career, and that is more of a damning indictment of their transfer activity than a glowing praise of the Ghanians performances at Villa Park. Brought to the club from Lorient in Ligue 1, Ayew was the club’s top scorer with 7 goals in 30 league games as they were relegated in the 2015-16 season. Following a miserable start to life in the Championship, he returned to the Premier League with a move to Swansea in January 2017. The 27-year-old, and I must admit I thought he was a little older, is still contracted to the Swans, but is currently on-loan at Crystal Palace, where he’s having a little battle with Christian Benteke to see who can score the fewest goals this season. Benteke is winning by one at the moment, but Ayew has played a few more games.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
