For Aston Villa fans who might not remember, Bertrand Traoré is still in Unai Emery’s squad, and somehow still being selected by his national team, Burkina Faso.
His appearances for the Villans are so fleeting that everyone should be forgiven if they had forgotten he was part of the club, as he totals a paltry 43 minutes of football this season, spread over six appearances.
Yet despite all of this, he is set to represent Burkina Faso on Friday evening when they face Guinea-Bissau, and has assured everyone, relayed by Burkina24, that he’s physically ready.
He said: “If I’m here, it’s because I’m ready. I wasn’t here during the last international break because I didn’t feel physically ready. I’m here, I feel good. I’m going to try and bring what I know.”
It’s worth recalling that Aston Villa paid €18.4m to buy the former Chelsea player from Lyon back in 2020, and while he did play a lot in his first season with the Villans, it’s pretty much all been downhill from there.
He even spent the first six months of last season on loan at Basaksehir in Turkey, but returned to Aston Villa in January after playing 18 times for them, during which he scored three goals and picked up an assist.
