Frederic Guilbert has found himself on the periphery at Aston Villa and was going to be loaned out before the winter transfer window shut in order to get game-time in the second half of the season.
However, Football Insider reported that his move to Cardiff City has ‘collapsed’ after he ‘pulled out’ of the deal late on.
This is the second time in a few days that the 26-year-old has opted against a temporary move away from Villa, having also rejected Istanbul Basaksehir , so his future is up in the air.
Football Insider didn’t specify why Guilbert rejected Cardiff, but the Bluebirds are languishing in the Championship and have lost their last five games, so perhaps that had something to do with it.
Guilbert has made only two appearances in all competitions this season, the last of which came back in October. The Frenchman didn’t even make the matchday squad in the Premier League until December, but he has still been left on the substitutes’ bench by Dean Smith. His only games this term have come in the Carabao Cup, a sure sign that he is a peripheral presence at Villa Park. [Transfermarkt]
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Matty Cash has been a regular at right-back since joining from Nottingham Forest over the summer and has earned his place on merit. Ahmed Elmohamady has been a reliable deputy for the 23-year-old, too, so Guilbert is relegated to third in the right-back pecking order.
Why he is rejecting the chance to play elsewhere when he’s clearly not in the frame at Aston Villa remains to be seen.
