Aston Villa youngster Lamare Bogarde has revealed Unai Emery fought to keep him at the club in the summer transfer window.
Algemeen Dagblad have an interview with the 21-year-old today, in which he insists he now sees no reason to leave Villa Park.
Bogarde is currently ‘making waves’ at Aston Villa after firmly establishing himself under Emery. He’s been a regular this season, albeit in midfield covering for the likes of Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans.
The youngster is highly rated at Villa Park but has been a bit-part player up to now. Last season he had 18 appearances in all competitions totalling 1036 minutes. He’s quickly on his way to surpassing both totals this season, with eight appearances and 378 minutes already.
Things could have been very different, though. He’s revealed that loan deals were being weighed up in the summer. Unai Emery then stopped them happening.
“I had a good pre-season. A lot of clubs wanted to loan me,” he said.
“From England, Germany, and even the Netherlands. The manager then came to me and said: No, I don’t want you to leave. I have the feeling I’m going to need you this season.
“I had just played with the Dutch U21s against the Israeli U21s (2-2) and was going to be off for a few days. In the morning, the manager called. He said: ‘I’m going to need you against Everton on Saturday. You have to come back earlier.’
“I had to act very quickly. It’s not in my mindset to be disappointed. I just want to play as much as possible in the Premier League. I thought: no matter what, I’ll be on the training pitch tomorrow.”
He’s now firmly in Emery’s plans and likely to start again more often moving forward after proving himself already. Loan deals are unlikely to be considered again, never mind a permanent exit. And Bogarde is more than fine with that.
“I think my future is definitely at Villa. If the manager wants you,” he added.
“There’s no reason to leave. My goal? I want to play as much as possible. With the Dutch U21s, in the Premier League, and in the Europa League, also because I think we can go very far there.”
