---
title: "Aston Villa: Bertrand Traore banished to under-23s"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/aston-villa-transfer-news-bertrand-traore-banished-to-under-23s-steven-gerrard/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2022-08-01T11:40:54Z"
modified: "2022-08-01T11:40:54Z"
---

# Aston Villa: Bertrand Traore banished to under-23s

**[Aston Villa](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/aston-villa-news/) manager Steven Gerrard has ousted Bertrand Traore from the first-team squad, according to Ashley Preece of [The Birmingham Mail](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-team-news-rennes-24630704).**

### The lowdown

Villa paid [£17m](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/12071585/bertrand-traore-aston-villa-complete-17m-signing-of-lyon-forward) to sign Traore from Ligue 1 outfit Lyon in September 2020, but two years on, it looks like his time with the Midlands club could be up.

Traore only made one [Premier League](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league-news/) start last season, registering nine appearances and a mere 213 minutes of action overall. That was partly a result of injury, but he rarely featured even when available (via [Transfermarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bertrand-traore/leistungsdaten/spieler/131996/plus/0?saison=2021)).

The winger is under contract at Villa Park for [another two years](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bertrand-traore/leistungsdaten/spieler/131996) and is thought to be the sixth-highest earner at the club on a salary of [£78,000 per week](https://www.spotrac.com/epl/aston-villa-fc/payroll/).

### The latest

Preece took to [Twitter](https://twitter.com/PreeceObserver/status/1553399920274640897) to share ‘a bit of an AVFC team news round up’.

He revealed that ‘Bertrand Traore has been told to train with the under-23s’, adding in the [attached article](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-team-news-rennes-24630704) that right-back Frederic Guilbert has also been ‘banished’ from the first team.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”398332″\]

### The verdict

It’s no surprise that Gerrard would like to offload Traore, who is proving to be a financial drain for Villa, taking home more than £4m per year without really contributing on the pitch.

The former Chelsea man actually enjoyed quite a good first season at Villa Park, [scoring seven league goals and providing seven assists](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bertrand-traore/leistungsdaten/spieler/131996/plus/0?saison=2020). That form had then-manager Dean Smith calling him a ‘[marvellous technician](https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1392415328890654721)‘ and predicting that there were ‘better things’ to come, but things have tailed off sharply since.

\[freshpress-poll id=”399011″\]

The fact that Traore has been ejected from the main group could potentially suggest that Gerrard is unhappy with the 26-year-old’s attitude in training.

It has been suggested that the Burkina Faso international [could return to Lyon](https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2022/lyon-have-made-contact-with-bertrand-traore/), and that would enable a frustrated Villa to cut their losses on him.