Dean Smith has confirmed £17 million wing wizard Bertrand Traore will make his Aston Villa debut against Bristol City in the Carabao Cup. The 25-year-old was in the stands watching Villa’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United after a delay in obtaining a work permit following Saturday’s unveiling.
Dean Smith said “He couldn’t have been involved today, obviously. He had to be signed by Friday lunchtime which involved work permits and, with Covid at the moment, we couldn’t get that done in time for tonight. All the paperwork’s done now and he’ll be ready for Bristol City. He brings us extra quality which we need and competition for places is what we want if we’re to be a high-quality team. This season we just felt there’s no newness about it. There’s an expectancy from myself that we’ll be much better this season.”
Villa edged past Sheffield United thanks to Ezri Konsa’s header just after the hour-mark. Smith’s said of his reinvigorated Aston Villa side: “Last season was a tough start, a baptism and we had to bed in a lot of players.
