Forgotten Villa man could still make a claret and blue return

Charles N'Zogbia could, in fact, play again for Aston Villa.

Who?

Charles N'Zogbia. You know, the French winger? Signed by Alex McLeish? Came over from Wigan in summer 2011? He's rather short? 27 years old? Last played for Villa in April 2013, when he came off at halftime in the 3-0 loss to Manchester United? Managed to hurt himself taking a jog in Miami in July and has been out injured since?

Ringing any bells?

Well, it was thought that N'Zogbia would never again play in the claret and blue, despite the fact that he's an actual winger and the club seems to be lacking in those. He was stripped of his number 10 shirt (that's Andi, of course) and given 36 to wear, but even that one got taken away. Without a shirt, it seemed unlikely Zogs would play for Villa again.

But, despite the fact that it seems getting a shirt in the 30s means you're blacklisted - Darren Bent, Alan Hutton, and so on - Paul Lambert insists that people are looking way deeper than they need to be. The Villa boss insists it just takes a long time to recover from a ruptured Achilles heel, and that he could very well play before the end of the season.

N'Zogbia's contract runs through 2016, so it'd be rather nice if he winds up playing for the Villa once more. He's not even back to training yet, though, just doing a little bit of fitness work. We will likely get more news after Zogs finds a bit more fitness.

What do you think? Is Lambert telling the truth, or will we never again see N'Zogbia in a Villa kit?

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