Defender Frédéric Guilbert has hit out at Aston Villa for treating him like “a piece of meat” before his departure this month.
The right-back brought an end to a three year stay at Aston Villa earlier this month when he returned to Strasbourg on a free transfer.
He had initially moved to Villa in 2019 but would only make 32 appearances for the club in total during a miserable few years in Birmingham.
Guilbert was sent to Strasbourg on loan in January 2021 and returned again the following summer when it was made clear he was not part of the club’s plans.
Having returned to Aston Villa in June last year, he was told he was not in Steven Gerrard’s plans and sent to train with the youth squad instead.
He was eventually allowed to return to Strasbourg on a free transfer earlier this month and has now spoken about his time at Villa Park.
“When a club like Aston Villa asks for you, it is rewarding,” he told L’Alsace.
“The Premier League is another world. The quality of the infrastructure, the richness of the workforce, the atmosphere in the stadiums, everything is oversized…
“The story started well for me, but it quickly became complicated. When I came back from Racing last summer, the club didn’t count on me anymore.
“I was left out of the pro group, I trained with the reserves, I had to use a physical trainer to keep me in shape. It was hard, because nobody comes to help you. In England, you are just a piece of meat. You are bought and sold without regard…”
