Aston Villa recalled Bertrand Traore from a loan transfer at Istanbul Basaksehir on deadline day. But Unai Emery must wait to play the winger as he returned to the club with an injury.
That is according to Birmingham Live, which reports Traore sustained a knee injury during training at Basaksehir in December. The 27-year-old returned to Bodymoor Heath over the Christmas period for treatment. But Emery has now opted to keep the winger at Villa Park.
Emery decided to keep the Burkina Faso forward at the club on deadline day to bolster his attacking options. The Spaniard believes Traore can play a role in the claret-and-blue club’s remaining Premier League games this term. Yet he will not face Leicester City on Saturday.
Traore is still one or two weeks away from his return to fitness, ruling him out of the Foxes’ visit to Villa Park. He is, instead, pushing to make his return when Aston Villa travel to face Manchester City on February 12. If not then, he aims to return against Arsenal on the 18th.
Aston Villa still have 18 games left of the 2022/23 top-flight campaign and rank 11th in the table. They also rank 12th for goals (23) across the division but Danny Ings scored six of the Villans’ total. He joined West Ham United in a £12m, rising up to £15m, transfer in January.
Aston Villa recalled Traore from Basaksehir despite his injury and his tepid form
Emery believes in what Traore can offer Aston Villa, so has recalled the 68-cap winger from Basaksehir despite his injury. Steven Gerrard agreed to let the forward move to Istanbul in August. He had only played five times under the Liverpool icon and started just one match.
Traore endured an injury-plagued start under Gerrard and failed to earn his backing whilst in charge at Villa Park. He also only offered eight goals and seven assists through 43 games under Dean Smith. The winger’s entire haul came during the 2020/21 season after joining.
Smith paid Lyon £17m, plus £2m in add-ons, to sign Traore in September 2020 with a four-year contract. The Burkina Faso captain now has 18 months left on his £78k-a-week terms. But he returns to Birmingham having hit three and assisted a goal in 18 Basaksehir fixtures.