Gabby Agbonlahor admits Alex Moreno has forced the Aston Villa legend to change his opinion of the defender under manager Unai Emery.
Aston Villa paid Real Betis £13.5m to sign Moreno in Emery’s first transfer market in charge this January.
Moreno moved to Birmingham on a three-and-a-half-year contract even though Aston Villa had paid Everton £25m for Lucas Digne 12 months earlier.
Moreno is keeping Digne firmly out of the Aston Villa XI
Digne has barely had a look in at Villa Park since Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in charge in November, though.
Emery has only started Digne in nine Premier League games so far. He has not favoured the France international over Moreno since February 25, either.
Instead, Moreno has so far started 11 of his 15 Premier League appearances under Emery since joining Aston Villa.
Agbonlahor admits that Moreno’s first few outings in claret and blue failed to impress the Aston Villa legend.
But since the Spaniard has settled into his new surroundings, Moreno has left Agbonlahor in awe. Now, he would pick the 29-year-old left-back over £50m man Ben Chilwell.
“I love Ben Chilwell, he is an outstanding player, he has had his injury problems. But I love Alex Moreno,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.
“The first couple of games I wasn’t too sure. But ever since then, he has been such an outlet going forward.”
Moreno is out-producing Chilwell in the Premier League
Chilwell joined Chelsea from Leicester City in August 2020. But the left-back suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in November 2021.
The issue kept him out until May 2022 while a hamstring injury also frustrated his season this term. But Chilwell has been fully fit since February 2023.
Chilwell has played in all 12 of Chelsea’s Premier League fixtures since February 2. While Moreno has played in 13 games for Aston Villa in the same period.
Through the last three months, Chilwell has further offered one goal and one assist in the top-flight in west London.
But Moreno has produced three assists to force Agbonlahor into a U-turn and help Aston Villa compete for European qualification.
His creativity also put Aston Villa back ahead against Arsenal before going on to lose 4-2 at home in February.
While Moreno found Ollie Watkins to break the deadlock in the Villan’s 1-1 draw at West Ham United.
The Spaniard also contributed to their 3-0 win over Newcastle United by finding Watkins for the Villan’s second goal.
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