Bertrand Traore has been one of Aston Villa’s less successful recent additions in terms of signings.
After graduating from the Chelsea academy, the 26-year-old moved back to England in September 2020 after the Midlands club paid Ligue 1 team Lyon £17 million to wrest him away.
But it appears that his future at Villa Park is really in doubt following two years of difficulties and inconsistent play.
The Villa manager doesn’t want the trio linked with the senior team, therefore he will join contract rebel Carney Chukwuemeka and right-back Frederic Guilbert with the U23s for the foreseeable future.
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According to Transfermarkt, Traore, who was signed by previous manager Dean Smith, hasn’t quite achieved the heights he did in France, scoring just eight goals and dishing out seven assists in 48 appearances.
The £14.4 million winger played a total of 277 minutes of competitive action in just 10 games last season. He missed a lot of action early in the season due to injury, but when he was well, Gerrard only used him in five games, one of which was a start.
Before the 2021/22 season, Smith hailed his acquisition as a “marvellous technician” and predicted great things for him, but those predictions proved false, and the Englishman was fired by early November.
He earns an estimated £78k each week, which places him as Villa Park’s sixth-highest earner before the new season begins. For a player who has been kicked out of the U23s, that is a lot of money wasted.
The onus is now on sports director Johan Lange to find a way out for the former Blues star, since it is obvious that he has no future with the organisation.
Traore has to be let go soon because the transfer window will close in less than a month, according to journalist Dan Bardell of the podcast “The Villa View.
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