Such is the nature of football transfers, most clubs in the world have a long list of transfer regrets, and for Başakşehir in Turkey, one of those is losing Aston Villa forward Bertrand Traore.
That’s according to Aksam, who cover how the Super Lig club and manager Emre Belözoğlu are regretting letting the player return to Aston Villa in January.
Traore had been on loan with them since the summer after falling out of favour under previous Villa boss Steven Gerrard but was recalled by his replacement Unai Emery in the last window.
That move was sanctioned by Başakşehir as Traore was suffering from a knee injury and their belief was that he would be out of action for a few months.
That has not proven to be the case, though, and he’s instead returned to full fitness and started to play a regular role under Emery.
That culminated in a superb strike against Leicester on Tuesday that sealed all three points for his side and helped them continue their push for Europe.
While that strike and the decision to bring him back was being celebrated at Aston Villa, Başakşehir are looking on rather forlorn.
They ‘regret’ the decision to allow Traore to return to his parent club as they have ended up losing someone who was a key player for them.
Aksam explain that Traore had a ‘threatening’ player in their forward line when he was there, with him often ‘directing the attack’ and making dangerous runs for his teammate.
He also showed himself in critical matches such as the clash with Beşiktaş and he made a ‘big difference’ to their team on the whole.
His departure has meant that the team has ‘lost its creativity’ up front, something which has seen them suffered consecutive losses and be surprisingly knocked out of Europe to boot.
The decision to sanction his return to Villa Park is one that they bitterly wish they hadn’t made, particularly as their loss proves to be Aston Villa’s gain.
