The French midfielder has joined Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne on a season-long loan after enduring a disappointing debut campaign at Villa Park.
While Jordan Veretout may not have left Aston Villa permanently, there is a very good chance he has played his last game for the club.
The 23-year-old French midfielder joined Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne on Wednesday on a season-long loan deal, making the move back to his homeland after just one disappointing season in England.
“I am very happy to be joining ASSE,” Veretout told Saint-Etienne’s official website. “This is the project I wanted. Now I hope to spend a very good season at Saint-Etienne.
“The coach’s speech won me over and I think he can make me progress. I know Geoffroy-Guichard is a great stadium with a great atmosphere and two boisterous ends. This is something that counted in my choice.”
An £8 million signing from Nantes last summer, Veretout arrived at Villa to big expectations after establish himself as one of the top talents in Ligue 1, but he proceeded to find the transition to the West Midlands much tougher than anticipated.
The French playmaker did manage to show some glimpses of creativity over the course of campaign, recording a team-leading five assists in 25 Premier League appearances, but he never quite managed to get to grips with the pace of English football and often appeared too hesitant in possession.
After making a run of 20 straight league starts under compatriot Remi Garde between November and March, the former Under-21 international was frozen out of the first-team picture once Eric Black took caretaker charge of the club and failed to feature in the final seven games of the season.
He was still waiting to score his first goal for Villa at that stage and also made headlines for boldly revealing that he turned down a move to league leaders Leicester City in favour of joining the top-flight’s bottom dwellers.
His departure seemed almost inevitable once the club’s relegation to the Championship was confirmed, and despite being involved in Roberto Di Matteo’s preseason plans, it was clear something was in the works after he was left out of the squad for the opening five matches of the new campaign.
The fact Saint-Etienne do not have an option to make his loan permanent suggests he could still have a future in B6, but a lot of things would have to fall into place for that to become a reality.
Here is how Villa fans reacted on Twitter to news of his move back to France…
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