Frederic Guilbert appears to have been demoted to the U23s after failing to make an impact in pre-season, but he’s not the only one. Carney Chukwuemeka has been recently dropped to the reserves after failing to commit his future, so it doesn’t appear he’ll train with the first-team this season.
Aston Villa travel to face Bournemouth on Saturday, August 6 and Chukwuemeka wasn’t given any minutes in pre-season, so it’s hard to see him making the matchday squad. Chukwuemeka was pictured in the proverbial ‘bomb squad’ for unwanted players, as he would normally be training with the seniors.
But the 18-year-old omission mean he didn’t feature in Villa’s 4-0 win over Walsall on July 9, 1-0 win over Leeds United on July 17, 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar on July 20 or 2-2 draw with Manchester United on July 23. He won’t be match fit, so a suitor would have to spend weeks getting him into shape.
Gerrard didn’t take Chukwuemeka on Villa’s pre-season tour as he’s refusing to sign a new deal beyond 2023 and it doesn’t seem like the club will play him anymore, so something has to give.
Reports have suggested Villa will accept bids around £20m for the 18-year-old, but they haven’t received an offer yet. Chukwuemeka has attracted interest from AC Milan, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, so Villa should have offers to field this summer.
In other news, Wesley could finally leave Aston Villa after Levante insert option to buy
