Aston Villa brought the Frenchman to Villa Park in the summer after originally signing him in January, when Dean Smith’s side was still in the second tier.
Aston Villa right-back Frederic Guilbert has spoken in detail about his move to Villa Park from Caen, including his response to people who asked at the time why he was making the switch to a side then in the Championship (The Guardian).
The 24-year-old signed for Dean Smith’s side from the French Ligue 1 outfit in January for a reported £5million fee but remained at the Stade Michel d’Ornano on loan until the end of the 2018-19 season, linking up with his new club in the summer.
As it turned out, Guilbert ended up joining a Premier League club, but he admitted that “everybody” was asking him back in January why he made the decision, to which his answer was to do with the magnitude of the club as opposed to the division.
“At the time Villa were 10th in the Championship and everybody said to me: ‘Why are you joining them?’ But I said I was not joining a league, I was joining Aston Villa’,” he told The Guardian, who added after his quote, “he widens his eyes as if to show the magnitude of the club”.
Guilbert is also reported in the interview as having turned down Brighton “because he did not feel ready to move”, while the player admitted that he was worried about the prospective move to Villa after Jesús García Pitarch and Olivier Monterrubio went to watch him during a game between Caen and Marseille, only for him to be sent off.
“I got a red card,” said Guilbert. “I asked my agent what was happening and he said: ‘It’s become complicated.’”
The Frenchman is now fully up and running at Villa after failing to make the squad for their opening two Premier League games, having began the following eight (Transfermarkt).
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