Aston Villa ‘reverse’ Steven Gerrard call with £15m star ‘arriving’ as transfer deadline nears

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has decided to reverse the decision of his predecessor, Steven Gerrard, by recalling winger Bertrand Traore from his loan spell at Turkish side Basaksehir. It is not the decision many supporters will have expected, but the Burkino Faso international comes back to offer squad depth.

Emery has been very vocal about wanting to sign a “new winger with different characterstics”, but having failed with moves for Gerard Deulofeu and Nico Williams, it seems he will not get his wish. There are still plenty of hours left until the deadline, but bringing Traore back probably sparks the end of January’s winger search.

As first reported by The Telegraph, Villa are “set to recall winger Bertrand Traore from his loan”, with the plan as it stands “to have Traore back involved” in the first-team for the rest of the season. Although likely to spend much of his time as a utility option, Traore’s ability to play anywhere across the front three could prove to be of good use.

With two goals and one assist contributed in 12 Super Lig appearances this season, Traore has made an impact but he has not set the world alight. The 27-year-old, who has featured in just 45% of the league minutes available to him this term, has suffered from plenty of injury problems over the years. Emery will be hoping he can get up to speed quickly.

Costing around €18 million (£15 million) from Lyon in 2020, Traore arrived at Villa Park with plenty of promise. Netting 33 goals and notching 16 assists in 126 matches, the Burkinabe was seemingly proving Chelsea - who had let him go - wrong. He has struggled to recover similar levels of form since then, but he has still managed 15 direct goal contributions for Villa in 48 games.