Villarreal forward Bertrand Traoré has explained how he came to leave Aston Villa in January, with the “most important thing” being he found regular playing time.
The winger has been speaking to Ajax’s official website as they take on Aston Villa in the Europa League this week, with the player having played for both sides in his career.
He joined the Dutch side on loan from Chelsea in 2017 after a spell at Vitesse the previous year, having signed for the Blues as a youngster from Auxerre in 2013.
He later joined Lyon on a permanent deal and spent three years there before moving to Aston Villa in an €18.4m deal in September 2020.
He would only make 62 appearances for the club, though, lasting two years before going out on loan to Basaksehir in August 2022.
He returned from that loan last summer and appeared to have worked his way into Unai Emery’s plans, with the Spanish boss electing to keep him a part of his squad.
Instead, he barely featured before eventually being allowed to leave on a free transfer for Villarreal at the end of the January transfer window; a deal that was done with his best interests in mind, at least according to him.
“In recent years I have had a lot of injuries and difficulty finding my rhythm,” he said.
“In January I played in the African Cup of Nations and then I got the chance to go to Villarreal. We discussed it and everything looked good.
“In the end, we came to an agreement. The most important thing is that I will play again week in week out.”
