Aston Villa journalist Ashley Preece has dropped a behind-the-scenes claim concerning Emi Buendia’s current situation at the Midlands club.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Preece had this to say on the matter: “I think he will be frustrated, yes. I think he’ll want to play every game, Buendia.
“He’s a club-record buy for Villa, they forked out a lot of money for Buendia, and he’s been knocked down the pecking order by [Philippe] Coutinho ever since his arrival. So, he’ll be frustrated, but he’ll be determined to get back in this team and keep his shirt.”
Villa signed Buendia back in the 2021 summer transfer window from Norwich City, in a deal worth £33m.
Since then, the 25-year-old has made 45 appearances for the Villans across all competitions, scoring five goals and providing seven assists along the way.
Despite making 35 league appearances last season, the Argentine only started 22 of them but still managed to score four goals and supply six assists for his side.
Things have been much the same for Buendia in this campaign as he has only started two of the seven league games he’s appeared in.
Now that Preece has claimed that the player could be frustrated with his lack of regular starts but is determined to force himself into the starting XI, this should be just what the Villa fans want to hear and what they want to see from the player.
Moving forward, we feel that Gerrard should give the former Norwich star a consistent run of games where he can show what he’s capable of from the start to see if he can help the team pick up a positive run of results.
However, if the player continues to make most of his appearances from the substitutes bench, there is a possibility that his determination to get into the team could run out and force him to push for a move away from the club, which should put the pressure on Gerrard to start picking him regularly.
