Morgan Sanson and Marvelous Nakamba are training with the first-team at Aston Villa but Frederic Guilbert is stuck with the Premier League club’s U21s, according to the Birmingham Mail.
A new manager means a new start. A clean slate. An opportunity to put the past behind you, and look ahead to the future.
So the likes of Sanson and Nakamba, two midfielders who set Aston Villa back a combined fee in the region of £25 million, should be hopeful of revitalising their claret-and-blue careers under the incoming Unai Emery.
Whether the same opportunity is afforded to a £5 million right-back signed from Caen, however, is anyone’s guess. Guilbert, the Birmingham Mail say, is still training with Aston Villa’s U21 side even after the dismissal of Steven Gerrard a week-and-a-half ago.
That is in contrast to Sanson and Nakamba, both of whom are being put through their paces at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground by caretaker Aaron Danks. Sanson, who missed out on a summer move to La Liga outfit Espanyol, was included in the matchday squad for Saturday’s 4-0 thumping at the hands of a Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron-inspired Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
What next for Frederic Guilbert at Unai Emery’s Aston Villa?
Guilbert has made no secret of his frustration at life on the fringes at Aston Villa.
The Frenchman does, however, remain part of their 25-man Premier League squad. And Guilbert, who once threatened to become a cult hero due to his all-action, swashbuckling style, can take some consolation in knowing that, in Emery, Villa have just hired a coach renowned for getting the best out of attack-minded full-backs.
Pervis Estupinan and Alfonso Pedraza shone during Villarreal’s run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2021/22. Sead Kolasinac played his best football at Arsenal under the Spaniard. And Sevilla won the Europa League in 2015 with a pair of attack-minded full-backs bombing forward on the overlap.
Guilbert will, however, have to overcome Matty Cash if he’s to force his way into the first-team fixture.
Interestingly, the 27-year-old could have joined Fulham in the summer of 2021. He joined Strasbourg on loan instead, however.
“I had (offers from) Lille and Fulham as well,” Guilbert explained. “Just before signing in Alsace, Fulham presented an offer that was difficult to refuse.
“I made the choice to accept Strasbourg. On my way to Strasbourg, Fulham gave me a new offer, even bigger. But, in my head, I was already at Strasbourg and I decided to maintain this course.”
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