Aston Villa: 'Writing on the wall' for £78k-a-week star at Villa Park

Aston Villa‘s Bertrand Traore should leave Villa Park this summer with the “writing on the wall” for the winger, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The £78,000 per-week star was overlooked for much of last season and isn’t part of Steven Gerrard’s plans moving forward.

Traore scored seven goals and added seven assists in the 2020-2021 campaign and therefore featured in the early parts of last term.

However, injuries and a lack of chances following Gerrard’s arrival midway through last season has seen him slip down the pecking order over the last nine months.

Traore did featured twice in pre-season, including in the first game of their tour of Australia, but BirminghamLive now believe the wide man has been ‘banished’ from the first-team and forced to train with the Under-23s.  

As a result, O’Rourke reckons that Traore’s short stay with Villa is coming to an end, with the best outcome for all parties for him to move on before September’s deadline.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “The writing is on the wall for Traore when something like that happens and he’s been sent to train with the Under-23s.

“He obviously doesn’t figure in Gerrard’s long term plans at Villa, so for everybody involved it would be good if he can continue his career elsewhere.”

As O’Rourke alluded to, the best decision now is for Traore to find himself a move away from Villa Park.

Despite a strong first season at the club, Gerrard clearly doesn’t rate him and has made his feelings clear by forcing him to train with the club’s Under-23s.

It’s not been made public by Gerrard exactly why he’s dropped him from the first-team, but it’s clearly his way of telling him he simply has no future at the club.

That might be considered quite harsh treatment, especially