Morgan Sanson has stated that he is ‘really happy’ to be playing for Aston Villa again, as he told the club’s official Twitter account.
Under Dean Smith, Sanson didn’t play a single minute of Premier League football this season, on five of those occasions he was an unused substitute.
But since Steven Gerrard arrival, his minutes have started to build up once more and he has came off the pitch during Villa’s last three matches, including playing 30 minutes at Anfield from the weekend.
Sanson might find himself in the starting XI for Villa’s away trip to Norwich City tonight, and if he does start, it will be his first since the club’s home win against Fulham in April.
There’s no doubt that Sanson would have been frustrated with his lack of game time under Smith, but he is ‘finally’ back playing.
“Finally, I am really happy to be back on the pitch,” said Sanson. “I am feeling much better every day and day after day, so I am really happy.”
Smith was the one who brought Sanson to the club last January when he arrived from French giants Marseille
Initially, it was a stop-start period for the attack-minded midfielder and understandably so.
At the time, he walked into a team that was sitting just outside of the European places and producing strong performances, before they faltered during the final few months.
That’s when Sanson started earning minutes and starts, but it was nothing regular and injuries didn’t help his cause either.
He had injury problems this season also, but when he came back to action, for whatever reason, Smith wasn’t putting him on the pitch, and on some occasions, he was showcasing his frustration from the bench.
If Sanson does start at Carrow Road tonight, then it would be something if he were to score his first goal for Villa against the man that appointed him.
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