Aston Villa receive offer for unavailable ace who could return to former league
Aston Villa have received an offer from Istanbul Basaksehir to take a player currently unavailable to them, according to one reporter.
It has been a busy January for Villa, who are undergoing their first transfer window since Steven Gerrard took charge. His presence as manager has been influential already. Without him, the loan signing of Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona would have seemed unthinkable.
In addition to Gerrard’s former Liverpool teammate, they have added left-back Lucas Digne from Everton and goalkeeper Robin Olsen on loan from Roma.
In terms of departures, Villa have allowed Anwar El Ghazi to spend the rest of the season with Everton. A number of fringe players and academy products have also been loaned elsewhere.
The next to head out the exit door at Villa Park could be Trezeguet. According to Vole reporter Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, the attacking midfielder has been the subject of an offer from Istanbul Basaksehir.
Trezeguet is currently away with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations. His last appearance for Villa before heading off for the tournament came on January 2nd, when he came on for the last 10 minutes of a loss to Brentford.
It was Trezeguet’s first appearance of the season for Villa (after returning from a knee injury) and it may have been his last if Istanbul Basaksehir get their way.
Turkish champions in 2020, they finished mid-table the season after and are currently eighth out of 20 in the present campaign.
A push for European qualification is within reach for the Istanbul outfit. If they can add to their squad before the transfer deadline, it would only help.
Villa are unlikely to stand in Trezeguet’s way if he wants to leave, although his contract lasts until 2023.
The 27-year-old has made a total of 64 appearances for Villa since joining them in 2019 from Kasimpasa. He has scored nine goals and supplied five assists since.
Now, though, he may be set for a return to Turkish football. He previously scored 25 goals from 71 Kasimpasa appearances.
Villa told Trezeguet exit makes sense
Earlier this month, one pundit supported the idea that Villa could offload Trezeguet, in addition to El Ghazi and Bertrand Traore.
Noel Whelan told Football Insider: “It could raise funds, so absolutely.
“Some clubs don’t always have the luxury of keeping these players on big contracts while also going out and buying another big player.
“Sometimes you’ve got to cut one loose if you want to bring another in. That’s just the way of the world with most clubs and their financial situations right now.
“There’s no point keeping players if they’re not in your plans. If you can move them on with loan-to-buy deals and get the wages out of the club, then do that.
“It works both ways, Aston Villa could then use that money to bring players in – perhaps also on a loan-to-buy basis.”
Since then, Villa have completed the Coutinho and Olsen transfers on exactly those terms. There may still yet be room for them to add further after the permanent arrival of Digne, too.
Signing a centre-back could be useful after they lost Man Utd loanee Axel Tuanzebe. Furthermore, they are looking closely at a midfielder, namely Juventus’ Rodrigo Bentancur.
There have also been suggestions they could sign a new attacker.
READ MORE: West Ham face Aston Villa competition as big-money move predicted for exciting attacker
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