‘Very clever’: New Aston Villa man Betrand Traore was once praised highly by Guus Hiddink

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Aston Villa are reportedly edging closer to completing the signing for Lyon winger, Bertrand Traore.

Reports over the weekend from various outlets, claimed that Traore was nearing a move to Villa Park, with the BBC confirming talks over a £19m deal were at an advanced stage.

The signing of the former Chelsea man will give Villa added firepower from wide areas and should supplement the capture of Ollie Watkins well, while the club also remain interested in Milot Rashica from Werder Bremen.

And in Traore, it appears Dean Smith will be getting a player who is willing to learn and quick to put it into practice. Indeed, while at Chelsea, his then manager and experienced coach, Guus Hiddink, praised Traore for his improvement.

“We spoke to him in training about how to improve. All young players must know how the game is played. He was overdoing it a bit because he is very mobile and busy, he was overdoing it. 

“He is coping with that much better in recent weeks which means he is open to learn and you can teach him, you can say ‘work on this’ and he is very clever to do so. He is fresh whether there are no spectators or whether there are 40,000 in the stadium, he is not impressed by that and I like that, he is very spontaneous.”

Those comments (via the BBC) came back in 2016 when Traore was trying to establish himself. Since then, he has moved to Lyon and become a key player in Ligue 1, fulfilling some of the promise Hiddink saw in his man back then.

Comments like this bode well, Traore should continue to get better – TBR View

It’s nice for Villa fans to see a manager held in such esteem as Hiddink to have once praised a player they are landing and it suggests that Traore is open to learning and improving.

This is a major signing for Villa and Dean Smith. If he can get to his best quickly and gel with the likes of Watkins and Grealish, then Villa have quite the player on their hands for a decent fee.