Anwar El Ghazi admits he wanted to stay in the Premier League with Aston Villa but knew his time at the club was over once Steven Gerrard replaced Dean Smith in the dugout, speaking to The Athletic.
It took just one training session for the former Ajax forward to realise that his time in claret-and-blue was coming to an end.
Like fellow wingers Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet, El Ghazi quickly fell out of favour under a coach who preferred to utilise the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Emi Buendia in wider roles.
Aston Villa sold Anwar El Ghazi to PSV Eindhoven
“I really loved England. I made some great friends. When I was on English soil again in the Europa League, it was like I was back home,” explains El Ghazi. “I miss it a lot and yes, I miss Villa, but I’m glad to be here (at PSV) now.
“Last season, I should have had more chances. In the first training session under Gerrard, he was trying to explain how he likes to play. A lot of thoughts were already in my head. I knew I had to get ready to not be wanted.
“I was trying to adapt to the way that he plays. And, of course I can do it, but naturally, I am a winger. I like to stay wide, put crosses in, get into one-v-one situations and then maybe come inside. But he wanted you to start inside.
“It was different. That’s what I struggled with and I think Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet did, too.”
El Ghazi, who scored 10 Premier League goals during an excellent 2020/21 season at Villa Park, returned to the Eredivisie late in the summer transfer window, joining Ruud van Nistelrooy’s title-chasing PSV Eindhoven for just £2.5 million.
“I had a really good conversation with the PSV director of football Marcel Brands and the manager,” El Ghazi adds. “And I felt loved again.
“It was really important for me. And I made a decision on the back of how much the club really wanted me. On the other side, I didn’t want to leave. I really wanted to stick with Villa.
“But I had one year left (on my contract), a manager who really didn’t want me there and had I stayed there… well, it was just so difficult.”
The two-time Dutch international has made an impressive start to life back home in the Netherlands, scoring three times in six Eredivisie games so far.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
