Aston Villa paid £5 million to sign Aaron Tshibola from Reading in 2016 but he has played just ten times for the club.
Aston Villa fans might have thought they had seen the last of Aaron Tshibola. But wait, who is that waiting for instructions alongside the first-team regulars in the club’s pre-season training camp?
Yes, it is the £5 million man who has been nothing short of an expensive disaster for Aston Villa and a sad indictment of the short lived Roberto Di Matteo reign (the Express).
Big things were justifiably expected of Tshibola when he arrived at Villa Park in the summer of 2016. Not just because of his extortionate transfer fee, but because the energetic midfielder had looked like the real deal in Reading’s engine room.
But the fact that Tshibola has made just eight league appearances in three years at Villa should tell you all you need to know about his impact, or a lack thereof. Despite loan spells at Nottingham Forest, MK Dons and Kilmarnock, the Premier League newcomers have found it all but impossible to shift a player who, remarkably, still has a year left on his contract.
So what now? Does Tshibola’s presence at Aston Villa’s pre-season training camp suggest that he will be offered a fresh start by Dean Smith?
The 24-year-old made a huge impact at Kilmarnock last season, helping them quality for Europe, and he deserves the chance to show Smith what he can do before the 2019/20 season kicks off. Though if an offer does arrive between now and the end of the transfer window, don’t be surprised if Aston Villa cash in on one of their worst pound-for-pound signings in recent memory.
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