The Bulgarian has been speaking about why he was not offered a deal at Villa Park.
Stiliyan Petrov – Aston Villa
This summer it looked as though Aston Villa were potentially going to complete a fantastic deal to bring Bulgarian midfielder Stiliyan Petrov back to Villa Park.
Petrov of course retired from the game in 2013 after battling leukaemia and that seemed like his career was at an end.
But he got back to full fitness throughout the summer at Villa. His pre-season with the club went well and it was being reported he could be in line for a deal with the club, in what would have been one of football’s great comeback stories.
However, in August, it was confirmed that Petrov would not be offered a deal with the club.
Now the 37-year-old has opened up on that episode.
Stiliyan Petrov – Aston Villa
Speaking to talkSPORT (15/09/2016) he revealed he has not returned to Aston Villa since and that he was unsure why he did not earn a deal at the club and why he rejected a role in the coaching staff:
“I don’t hold any bad feelings toward them.
“I won’t lie to you I was disappointed I was not offered nothing there. Why I wasn’t offered, I don’t know. That, wasn’t explained to me.
“They offered me a job with the youth system which I didn’t want to do. I wanted to finish as a footballer.”
He then went on to suggest he would have played for free and that releasing him from training so early was unnecessary by the club:
“I didn’t even want to get paid. I just wanted to finish as a footballer.
Former Aston Villa player Stiliyan Petrov (C) on a lap of honour at the end of the match
“I was told very early. I was free, I could have done a longer pre-season on everything else. I sat with Roberto Di Matteo and thanked him for giving me the opportunity. We shook hands and I wished him good luck for the season.”
Many Villa fans are no doubt gutted Petrov did not come back.
Whilst on the one hand Petrov is no spring chicken and hasn’t played professionally in three years, if he was willing to play for free his experience would have been a great addition to the squad – especially after relegation to the Championship.
It seems that for whatever reason Villa decided that Petrov was not worth a fairly risk-free gamble.
With the club currently toward the bottom in the Championship, it is hard to see how they could have done any worse so far with him present.
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