Aston Villa defender Frederic Guilbert has admirers at other English clubs after impressing on loan at Ligue 1 outfit Strasbourg, as reported by The Athletic.
When the fleet-footed Frenchman headed across the Channel to his homeland in the final hours of the January window, Villa certainly didn’t expect to lose Matty Cash three days later.
Cash limped out of the goalless draw with Brighton in early February and hasn’t been seen since.
And, to add insult to literal injury, Guilbert has been performing like a man possessed at Strasbourg while Ahmed Elmohamady struggles to fill a Cash-shaped void on the right of Dean Smith’s defence.
In four games, Guilbert has contributed to three goals already – scoring the winner in last week’s 1-0 win at title dark horses Monaco.
According to The Athletic, Villa’s £5 million forgotten man has caught the eye of a number of English clubs with his stand-out performances in the past few weeks.
However, the identity of the clubs in question remains, for now, a mystery.
Whatever happens, life at Villa Park appears over for the Frenchman. Even if Guilbert maintains his superb start to life at Strasbourg, Smith is unlikely to hand a second chance to a player who, last summer, was told he had no future at the club.
Interestingly, 33-year-old Elmohamady is also set to leave Villa with his contract expiring in June.
All signs suggest Aston Villa will make a new right-back top priority when the window opens again.
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