Former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton has given his reaction to Bertrand Traore‘s start to life at Villa Park since arriving at the club a few weeks ago.
The 25-year-old attacker completed a £17m move from Ligue 1 giants Lyon to the Premier League this summer but his form on the pitch has been a struggle, failing to find the back of the net in his opening five league games.
Having picked up an injury in the 4-3 defeat to Southampton last weekend, the Express and Star reported that Traore could be fit in time to face Arsenal on Sunday.
Touching on the forward’s start to life in a Villa shirt, Hutton said that his opening 30 minutes against the Saints were ‘bright’ and ‘unpredictable’, before adding further comment.
“He’s had to bide his time,” the former Scotland international told Football Insider.
“It’s obviously been difficult for him since the move, he’s not had many minutes.
“He’s played in the likes of cup games and come on as a sub but given the start and I think it’s the one position in the team that’s up for grabs, that right side of the three.
“Given the opportunity, he looked bright, he looked sharp, he got in pockets of space, he turned, he made things happen – he’s that kind of player who’s unpredictable, you don’t really know what he’s going to do.
“It’s a shame for him to pick up a little niggle, it looked like it was his groin or something so hopefully it’s not as bad as we thought because he did go off as soon as he felt it. Hopefully, he can make a quick recovery.”
Villa, who opened their league with four wins out of four, have since suffered back-to-back defeats, and Dean Smith’s side will be looking to arrest that slide on Sunday against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
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Traore needs time to readjust to the Premier League and it is far too early to judge him, especially with his injury setback.
Hutton’s comments are fair, with an honest assessment of the 25-year-old’s first half-hour against Southampton.
Having scored 33 goals in 126 games for Lyon during his time with the French club, it is fair to say that Traore is not hugely prolific in front of goal, so Villa fans who are looking for more in that sense may have to look at his all-round game instead.
