The solid right-back has been an almost ever present in Burnley’s comfortable Premier League campaign while Aston Villa languish in the Championship.
There’s a degree of irony in the fact that Matt Lowton was forced to drop down a division when swapping Aston Villa for Burnley in the summer of 2015, [BBC].
Less than two years on, the claret and blue duo have swapped places. Burnley are sitting pretty in 13th place in the Premier League, their return to the top flight progressing better than even the most optimistic supporter could have anticipated and destroying many an early-season coupon along the way.
Villa, meanwhile, are eleven points adrift of the final play-off spot in the Championship and 19 places behind the club they sold Lowton to in the English football ladder.
The right-back became only Paul Lambert’s second signing at Aston Villa when he arrived from Sheffield United in 2012 as part of a wide-ranging recruitment drive for English-based youngsters.
However, while the likes of Joe Bennett and Jordan Bowery have done little to suggest that they were ever worthy of a club of Villa’s stature, Lowton falls snugly into the ‘one that got away’ category.
The 27-year-old may not have written many headlines this season but, like his club as a whole, the Burnley defender has drifted under the radar. Solid if not unspectacular, Lowton has started all but two of The Clarets’ Premier League games this season, making him every bit as important to Sean Dyche as the exit-linked Michael Keane or Andre Gray.
Steve Bruce’s current Villa side are not lacking at right-back with Alan Hutton supported by the exciting James Bree.
But former boss Tim Sherwood deeming Lowton surplus to requirements and replacing him with the erratic Leandro Bacuna, a man who was recently handed a hefty ban for squaring up to a linesman, is up there with his more questionable managerial decisions.
Oh, and did we mention they sold the £3 million defender for a third of his price tag, as reported by the Birmingham Mail?
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
