Dan Bardell: Wesley had ‘no future’ at Aston Villa after ‘unique’ injury ‘killed’ Premier League spell

We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…

Wesley had “no future” at Aston Villa after four seasons at the club, with severe injuries being what “killed” his time in the Premier League, according to Dan Bardell.

In January of his first season at Villa during the 2019/20 season, Wesley suffered a severe cruciate knee ligament injury when facing Burnley. The Brazilian would not play again for nearly a year and a half, derailing his career.

In the meantime, the club began to outgrow him and were finishing higher up the table and recruiting new better players. Wesley was sent out on numerous failed loans, before making a permanent one-year move to Championship side Stoke City.

Bardell has claimed that the new recruits brought in all served Villa better and the squad began to outgrow him, but hopes that he can rebuild his career in the second division.

Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “Injuries really killed him. He wasn’t having the best of times anyway and he got that really bad injury that was one of the worst injuries you can get.

“The surgeon for his operation actually had to come out of retirement to carry out his procedure on Wesley. It was such a unique injury.

“Coming back from an injury like that, he was unlikely to ever be the same player. He was struggling anyway in that first half of the season, but I think Villa have just progressed a lot further as a club over the last few seasons.

“He struggled in La Liga on loan at Levante. He’s just ended up going backwards, through no fault of his own. It’s just ended up where he has no future. Villa spent a lot of money on him.

“Since then they’ve brought in Ollie Watkins and even Danny Ings as well after that. Wesley was never going to get a chance. It’s unfortunate but I think Villa fans will wish him well and hope that he can rebuild his career.

“I mean, he had played for Brazil at one point. So obviously, there was something there but we didn’t see it at Villa.”