Among those to report back for pre-season training this past week was Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Sanson, amid plenty of discussion over his future once again.
There’s no denying that his time with us has been a major disappointment. The 28-year-old arrived from Marseille in January 2021 with big expectations, but injuries and competition for places have seen him make just 23 appearances for us in that time.
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Having struggled to establish himself under Dean Smith, Sanson travelled with the Villa squad on our pre-season tour last summer with Steven Gerrard at the helm, and appeared ready for a fresh start.
Despite showing positive signs when involved, he continued to have a severely limited role with his injury woes continuing to haunt him, but it had been hoped that the arrival of Unai Emery could finally help him get things right.
The Frenchman scored his first goal for the club in January and looked capable of being a viable midfield option for the Villa boss, but he was both honest and open throughout with his views on Sanson, with Villa out of both cup competitions and restricted in terms of minutes for players beyond those who were regular starters.
“(Morgan) Sanson as well is in the possibility to leave, but Sanson for me is a very good player,” Emery said in his pre-Southampton press conference in January. “He understands very good how we want to play and he has the skill to do it. But he has to play in a team to be consistent, trying to play more and here it’s difficult to give him it – he is as well finding something to leave.”
Sanson went and found that during his loan stint with Strasbourg in the second half of last season, scoring one goal and providing two assists in 18 appearances as he played a key role in preserving their top-flight status.
As seen in the images below, he has returned for pre-season training at Bodymoor Heath with the right attitude, but is he preparing himself for an inevitable departure, or can he still win Emery over given how many games we’ll hope to play this season?
The ex-Marseille man has now lost his No.8 shirt to Youri Tielemans, who will likely push him further down the pecking order having arrived on a free transfer this month.
However, with speculation suggesting that Marvelous Nakamba and Leander Dendoncker could move on this summer, will Sanson be joining them or could he offer competition and depth alongside Tim Iroegbunam and any further new additions in the upcoming campaign?
Villa will hope to play in excess of 60 games this year if we put together deep cup runs both domestically and in Europe, and that requires a significant squad to cope with the demands of such a hectic schedule.
Time will tell though if Emery is satisfied that Sanson has played regularly enough now to rediscover his fitness and form to play a part in his plans moving forward, or if he ultimately wants to move on from him and bring in his own players who are perhaps better suited to his system, style of play and tactical demands.
That said, how many players will Villa look to sign this summer? With Tielemans and Pau Torres already secured and attacking reinforcements seemingly the next priority, there is arguably only so much change Emery will want in one window without disrupting the balance of the group.
Sanson will likely be involved at Walsall on Saturday in our first pre-season outing, especially given the number of absentees who have yet to return after being given an extended break. In turn, as is the case with several other players in the current squad, it remains to be seen if he’s battling for a spot in the squad still, or is ultimately just putting himself on the radar of other clubs.
Morgan Sanson on Instagram 👊🏽🟣🔵
Described by Emery as a ‘very good player/understands very good how we want to play & has skill to do it’ in Jan, but conceded needed to play more. Got that in decent loan stint.
Competition/depth option or ship completely sailed? #avfc #UTV pic.twitter.com/jfBoxucE8a
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) July 13, 2023
