The wheels of time continue to turn at Aston Villa.
And Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan looks increasingly like a man out of his time, a by-gone relic from an era where Villa’s ambitions barely strayed beyond Premier League survival.
When Trezeguet arrived, a £9 million signing from Turkish outfit Kasimpasa, Aston Villa would have been happy with 17th place.
It’s a mark of the club’s progression over the last three years that, if they finished just above the drop zone this term, it would be viewed as nothing short of a colossal failure.
Aston Villa are signing established, elite-level footballers these days.
Philippe Coutinho’s time at Barcelona may go down in history for all the wrong reasons but this is still a world-leading playmaker with 63 Brazil caps on his CV.
Coutinho remains the third-most expensive footballer on planet earth.
Lucas Digne, meanwhile, has been reunited with his former Camp Nou team-mate after joining from Everton for £25 million.
Is Trezeguet leaving Aston Villa?
Matt Targett, Villa’s 2021 Player’s Player of the Year, will be sacrificed. Anwar El Ghazi, meanwhile, joined Everton on loan after Coutinho’s arrival pushed him further than ever down Steven Gerrard’s pecking order.
The same fate could now befall Trezeguet.
According to Fanatik, Galatasaray have opened talks with the Egypt international regarding a potential return to Turkey.
The 22-time Super Lig champions came close to signing Trezeguet back in 2019, before Aston Villa pipped them to the post. But they can feel more confident than ever of sealing a deal this time around.
Trezeguet’s departure, like that of El Ghazi, feels like something of a symbolic moment. Good players sacrificed to make room for great ones.
Trezeguet will always have a place in the hearts of Aston Villa supporters thanks to his starring role in the ‘Great Escape’ of 2019/20. The days of Villa merely surviving, however, are long gone.
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