Former Aston Villa defender Bjorn Engels has detailed how his dream was ‘dead’ during his time at Villa Park.
Engels joined Aston Villa from Stade Reims in 2019 and was a regular in the team that season, with 19 appearances in all competitions to his name that year.
His second season proved to be an extremely disappointing one for him, though, as he found himself down the pecking order behind the likes of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.
He didn’t manage a single appearance in any competition, spending most of the season sat on the bench as an unused substitute.
That led to a move to Royal Antwerp this summer, with the player electing to move back to his homeland in search of regular playing time.
He’s spoken openly about why he made the move since, recently, insisting that he was not out to prove a point to Aston Villa at his new club.
Now he’s spoken about how his dream of playing in front of packed stadiums died, largely due to the COVID pandemic.
“During my first season, I felt very good in England. But the Covid messed that up,” he told Sport Magazine.
“My family was still able to come once, for Christmas. Before that, they came every two weeks, for our home games, and also often to London as we played a lot of away games there.
“For months, I didn’t see anyone. My daughter was born in January, and the family saw her for the first time in May. Mentally, it’s difficult.
“In short, I didn’t play; I didn’t see my friends, I didn’t see my family, and I could hardly leave my four walls.
“Why did I always dream of England? For the atmosphere in the stadiums. It gives you an incredible adrenaline rush. Here I was condemned to the bench and it was dead.”
