Tom Carroll signed for Aston Villa last January when they were chasing promotion to the Premier League.
On transfer deadline-day last Friday, Aston Villa secured the services of Swansea City striker, Borja Baston, on a free transfer. For the second winter transfer window running, Dean Smith’s side had concluded a late deal for someone from the Welsh club.
12 months prior, with Aston Villa vying for promotion to the Premier League, they snapped up Tom Carroll on a loan deal until the end of the season. He wasn’t the only player signed on a temporary basis for the then-struggling Championship club because the likes of Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause had also walked through the doors that month.
Carroll’s time at Villa was short-lived because injury ruined his time at the club, with only 35 minutes under his belt [transfermarkt], he was best remembered for being in the away end, along with Tommy Elphick, as Villa beat their bitter rivals Birmingham City at St Andrew’s.
If Carroll had stayed out of the treatment room then he perhaps would have been a Premier League player now, just like Mings and Hause, but instead, he had found himself being released by Swansea, who terminated his contract on deadline-day, as reported by BBC Sport.
It seems as though with a lack of game time and his contract expiring in the summer, the Championship club opted to part ways with him.
It’s a crying shame for the 27-year-old, who is now perhaps an example of how quickly things can change for a footballer playing near the top level.
If Carroll hadn’t struggled with injuries during his time in B6 then there’s no reason why Villa wouldn’t have continued in their ways and still earned promotion, with the midfielder playing his part.
And like Dean Smith did with all his loan players, he would have stuck by and offered Carroll a permanent contract in the Premier League.
Instead, the Spurs academy product will now be hoping to get his career back on track by other means, as there shouldn’t be a reason why a Championship club wouldn’t want to secure his signature.
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