The news that Yannick Bolasie has cut short his season-long loan deal at Aston Villa was quite surprising. The 29-year-old winger has decided to end his temporary spell in the Midlands because he reportedly believes that he should be playing in the Premier League.
Many Villa fans will disagree, as will some Everton and Crystal Palace fans who have witnessed the winger play in recent years. I doubt many Villa fans will be too worried about the winger’s exit, as he only made nine appearances for the Villans in his temporary stay in the Midlands.
Mercurial the best word for Bolasie
Yannick Bolasie is not a terrible footballer. He has pace and trickery. His quick feet often get the better of opposition defenders. The problem is that they sometimes get the better of Bolasie too.
Defenders do not know what the winger is going to do, but neither does Bolasie. At best he is good, at his worst a liability to his own team. The best word to describe the Congo winger is probably mercurial.
A serious injury just a few months into his Everton career seriously affected his pace and confidence it seems. In the limited games he played for Toffees after his injury he struggled to have any sort of impact and fell out of favour.
His career is now in limbo
Bolasie is unlikely to feature for the Everton first-team in the near future, despite his return to the Merseyside club. Speculation on Merseyside suggests that Everton will look to loan Bolasie out again to another club, although that may be difficult considering his reported wage packet of £75,000 per week.
Everton already have the likes of Richarlison, Theo Walcott, Bernard and Ademola Lookman as wide options. All four of the quartet offers the team more than Bolasie, who was always a risky buy for the Toffees.
The winger cost the Toffees a reported fee of £25million when he joined from Crystal Palace in 2016. When he joined the Merseyside club, it was clear that although the Palace fans loved him they were happy to see the Eagles get such a big fee for the winger. The fact that he had been so inconsistent for Palace was likely the main reason that the Eagles fans were not devastated by the winger’s move.
The sad truth is that Bolasie was part of a disastrous two-year spell in the transfer market for the Toffees. Everton bought players for overinflated fees and gave them bigger wages than they should have. The Merseysiders are in a situation with a number of players like Bolasie who are unlikely to feature for the club, but no other club is willing to sign them due to their high wage demands.
This has played a part in the club deciding not to invest in their squad in January, hopefully waiting until the summer to get rid of some of their deadwood. Bolasie is a big branch of the deadwood concerned.
Frees up room for another play at Villa
Bolasie’s future may be up in the air now. However, his exit frees up room for another signing for Aston Villa. The Villans can use his wages and his loan spot to strengthen their squad before the January transfer window shuts.
Villa are still contenders for the play-off spots but are currently seven points adrift of sixth spot. The Villans are big outsiders to win promotion at odds of 8/1. A new key addition would certainly not harm their chances of a return to the Premier League this season.
Yannick Bolasie and Aston Villa’s short time together was a success for neither party. Both will be hoping for better fortunes in the near future, though.
Where does Yannick Bolasie’s future lie?
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