In Focus: Villa outcast Traore may need to find new home

Bertrand Traore has captained Burkina Faso to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals, but may find himself a peripheral figure when he returns to club duty.

While the winger has been away, Aston Villa have brought in Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona — with an option to make the deal permanent.

And that could leave Traore on the fringes of Steven Gerrard’s squad, with his future potentially lying elsewhere.

Ahead of Burkina Faso’s big clash with Tunisia this evening, we take a look at what he would bring to any potential suitors.

Limited opportunities

Injury problems meant Traore made his first Premier League start of the season in Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Brentford at the beginning of January.

But the 26-year-old now finds his path to the first XI blocked not just by Coutinho, but an invigorated Emi Buendia — who grabbed the winner at Everton last time out.

Despite impressing with the national team, Traore will have dropped further down the pecking order of wide attacking options at the club — particularly with summer signing Leon Bailey also stepping up his return.

Traore's contract at Villa Park does not expire until 2024, but it would not be a surprise to see him leave as soon as this summer, even if only on loan.

Showing what he is all about

Having made his national team debut at the age of just 15, Traore is starring in the continental showpiece for a fifth time and will be hoping to fire his team to go even further than their semi-final appearance in 2017.

A Villan in club football, Traore became a hero for his country in Sunday's last-16 tie as the Stallions beat Gabon on penalties to reach the last eight.

Having struck the bar with a spot kick 18 minutes into the game, he redeemed himself by putting his side 1-0 up with a cool left-footed finish after bursting through the middle to latch on to Dango Ouattara’s through-ball.

And in the opening match of the tournament — where Burkina Faso lost 2-1 to hosts Cameroon — Traore delivered a delicious cross for Gustavo Sangare to give Kamou Malo’s team the lead.

Traore certainly seems to be taking the opportunity of regular minutes at a major tournament to show clubs across Europe what he has to offer.

An issue of consistency?

Watch clips of Traore's best moments at Villa and you might think he is a world class talent.

But for all of his dazzling moments of quality, there are equal amounts where he struggles to make an impact.

Speaking back in November shortly after Gerrard’s appointment as head coach, ex-Villa defender Alan Hutton gave his views on Traore’s situation.

He said: "We can all see that he is a good player. He’s technically very good, he’s got pace.

"I know it can be difficult for wingers, they kind of drop in and out of games.

"You need to be consistently playing at a high level. He [Gerrard] has probably seen him and thought there’s real inconsistency there. He needs more."

On his day

As Hutton alluded to, and as we have been seeing at the Africa Cup of Nations, Traore certainly has quality.

And if he can combine that with consistency, he could be a potent attacking weapon for the right team — given his explosive speed, dribbling ability and pinpoint crossing.

In theory, he is in his peak years, but there is a sense that more is still to come from the former Lyon and Chelsea man.

Where to next?

Even at this time of year — and with his Villa playing time looking set to be severely restricted — Traore’s name is nowhere to be seen among the steady churn of transfer rumours.

But another Traore’s is — Wolves’ Adama Traore, who looks set to snub Tottenham in favour of a move to Barcelona.

Should that happen and Wolves end up with a vacancy on the right wing, they could do a lot worse than consider an approach for Adama’s namesake.

Bruno Lage’s men are flying this term, but the 62-cap international would certainly be a valuable addition to their attacking armoury.