Moustapha Salifou’s career didn’t really take off at Villa, to say the least, and was probably one of Aston Villa’s worst ever deadline day signings.
The Togolese international joined Villa on the 31st August in 2007, and Villa’s manager of that time, Martin O’Neil, stated that Salifou “may well prove to be an excellent asset”. Now looking back, Martin O’Neill will most likely be regretting signing the midfielder, never mind the kind words he used, to describe the player when he signed him.
He only made four appearances, in his four-year spell at Aston Villa. It took him half the season to make his debut when he joined due to work permit issues. He finally made his debut in the game against Reading in January 2008, by coming on as a substitute in the 90th minute.
In his second season at the Villans, he played one game and his last game in a Villa shirt, when Martin O’Neill decided to swap the whole side around in the UEFA Cup match against Slavia Prague. Nobody was surprised when Salifou was linked with a move away from Villa Park, as he gained very little game time over his first two seasons at Aston Villa.
He rarely appeared in the 2009-10 season, and didn’t play at all the season after. At the end of that season, his abysmal time at Villa finally came to an end, when he was released in May 2011.
Most recently he played for the German club, Rosenheim, in the Regionalliga Bayern, which is the fourth tier of German football. In the 2013-14 season, he made 11 appearances, creating three goals while scoring once.
This week, the 32-year-old attacking midfielder, has moved to the German side, Türkspor Augsburg after a £35k deal went through.
