‘I don’t understand’: Star told he’s made a big mistake joining Aston Villa

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Premier League newcomer Boubacar Kamara has made a mistake leaving Marseille for Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa, former France international Jerome Rothen tells RMC Sport.

It says a lot about the pulling power of English football that Kamara would turn down a contract extension at his boyhood club – an upwardly-mobile L’OM side who qualified for the Champions League via a second-place finish across the Channel – for a team who ended 2021/22 glancing upwards at Brentford, Crystal Palace and Newcastle United.  

Kamara, Marseille born and raised, completed his move to Villa Park following the dramatic, final day defeat to Manchester City.

But, after witnessing fellow Ligue 1 imports Morgan Sanson and Bertrand Traore struggle in claret-and-blue, the outspoken Rothen fears that history could be about to repeat itself at a club who’s undoubted aspiration is yet to translate into results.

Aston Villa sign Boubacar Kamara from Marseille

“I don’t understand. The Premier League is the best league in Europe, but it has five or six headliners. Aston Villa are among the second-tier teams,” says the one-time PSG winger.

“Does Aston Villa have any star players? No. So they’re not going to fight for the top positions in the Premier League. I’d be surprised if they end up in the top ten, so they have very little chance of playing in any European competition.

“An international player is going to commit himself to a team 14th in the English league? Kamara will play with Bertrand Traore and Morgan Sanson?

“Sportingly, he will have a hard time (reaching the next level) at Aston Villa.” 

You can understand Rothen’s frustration.

Sanson, after all, was expected to make a big impact in England but ended up starting just three league games as Aston Villa side finished just 10 points above the relegation zone. 

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But while the Villans underachieved on the pitch, there can be no doubts about their ambition off it.

A team containing Ollie Watkins, Philippe Coutinho, Danny Ings, John McGinn, Tyrone Mings, Emi Martinez, Lucas Digne and now one of Europe’s most promising defensive midfielders certainly has the raw potential to, say, ‘do a West Ham’ and crash through the glass ceiling if the stars align at Villa Park.