Loanee Watch: Aston Villa

After looking at some players from Arsenal who spent a season away from the Emirates which you can read here, it’s now time to look at some players who were sent on loan from Villa Park.

Aston Villa didn’t send too many players on loan this season, with a lot of their squad staying to help them get an admirable 11th place finish this season in the Premier League.

Here is a look at three players and who their loan spells went as they spent time away from the Villans.

Frederic Guilbert – RC Strasbourg

The French fullback joined the French club in the January transfer window on loan, and has been a solid player for Strasbourg.

He has made 13 appearances for FC Neudorf, which has resulted in him playing 73% of the minutes for Strasbourg since his move.

In them 13 games, he has scored one goal and has four assists for the club, however, he has also picked up two yellow cards and one red card.

Strasbourg enjoy having attacking fullbacks, and their former fullback Kenny Lala left in the winter window, and Guilbert has more goals and assists that Lala did in the first half of the season.

Guilbert didn’t make a Premier League appearance for Villa this season, with his last League appearance coming against West Ham last season.

One problem that the 26-year-old could face is convincing Dean Smith he deserves a place in the starting eleven, despite the season Matty Cash has just had.

Cash joined in the last transfer window from Nottingham Forest and has had a brilliant season for Villa.

It’s likely that Guilbert will take up a backup position behind Cash next season, or he will find a place at another club. Strasbourg may make a move for him this summer, or someone else may be after the Frenchmen.

Conor Hourihane – Swansea City

Just like Guilbert, Hourihane left Villa on loan in January, and went to Championship side, Swansea City.

The Irishman’s season isn’t over yet as Swansea will face Brentford in the Championship playoff final this weekend.

Hourinhane’s first game on loan was against Brentford, and he grabbed himself a goal on his debut, as they drew 1-1 at the Liberty stadium.

Since his move, he’s made 19 appearances for the Swans, were he’s scored five goals, and has two assists from midfield.

Hourihane has regularly been in midfield alongside Matt Grimes and Jay Fulton as they look to pull Swansea back into the Premier League.

Just like Guilbert, Hourihane will have to convince Smith that he belongs in his squad, despite John McGinn and winter signing Morgan Sanson also playing in that position.

Smith may also see Hourihane as an oppurtunity to fund a player who will have a bigger impact on the team, with Smith’s main target next season being to get Villa into the top 10.

However, Smith has said he’d like Hourihane to stay but the 30-year-old wants regular football, which Smith may not be able to guarantee.

Lovre Kalinic – HNK Hajduk Split

Kalinic joined the Croatian league team Hajduk Split in the January window, at the club were he began his career.

The 31-year-old had been at Hajduk since 2005 in their youth development. He left the Croatian club in 2017, were he joined Belgian club KAA Gent for a fee around £2.8 million.

Since his loan move in the winter, he has had quite a good season for Hajduk.

He has made 21 appearances for Hajduk, only conceding 16 goals during that time, while also keeping 11 clean sheets.

During his time back at Hajduk, he was also named captain towards the end of the season, helping the team finish 4th, just one point outside European qualification places.

However, just like Guilbert, Kalinic faces uncertainity over a place next season after a hughely impressive debut season from Emiliano Martinez after signing from Arsenal.

However, Smith might find a place for Kalinic as the back up to Martinez, as it looks increasly likely that Tom Heaton will be leaving Villa Park this summer. If Kalinic is content with being the backup, he will find a place in Smith’s plans next season.

Other Loans

Aston Villa didn’t have any other first team players out on loan this season, but had some players from the under 23’s moving to get some experience.

Indiana Vassilev went to Cheltenham Town on loan and Tyreik Wright went to Walsall, but neither really had successful loan spells.

Smith will be focusing on taking Villa a step further, and looked likely he would after a great start to the season, but things didn’t go their way as the season progressed.

The Villa fans will be hoping they can keep hold of Jack Grealish this summer, and they will be hoping to make even more progress next season.

If you would like to read more, click here

“Witton Lane Gardens – Aston – Villa Park – Witton Lane, Aston – the Holte End” by ell brown is licensed under CC BY 2.0