Aston Villa defender Frederic Guilbert ‘hopes to find a way out’ before the end of the transfer window after returning from successive loans to Strasbourg.
That’s according to L’Equipe, who say the player has found himself ‘at a dead end’ at Villa Park.
He’s spent the last two seasons on loan in France but returned this summer when the latest of those deals came to an end.
His contract with Aston Villa runs until 2023 but he is not a part of Steven Gerrard’s plans and was left out of the squad after the pre-season training camp in Australia.
In fact, he has been ‘pushed to one side’.
He is now training with the U23s but Gerrard has made it clear he is ‘not counting on him’ and Aston Villa would like to move him on before the end of the window.
Rennes, Nice, Troyes and Lyon have all ‘expressed interest’ in him but none of them are ‘rushing’ to sign him.
L’Equipe report the trio all made enquiries at the beginning of the summer but none of them went further in negotiations.
Neither did Lyon, who made an offer at the beginning of August but plumped for an internal option instead.
As a result, Aston Villa have decided to lower their demands to between €2m and €3m, having first asked for €5m.
Championship clubs are ‘keeping an eye’ on him but Guilbert isn’t interested in those potential moves as he would prefer to stay at the ‘highest level’ after he already turned down a move to Fulham for that reason last year.
