Yannick Bolasie departs Aston Villa

Both Aston Villa and Everton have today confirmed that Yannick Bolasie will be cutting his spell in Birmingham short and returning to Merseyside after joining the Villans earlier in the season.

Villa have stated on their official website that it was Yannick who chose to return to Everton, activating a loan contract option to depart the club.

Bolasie was signed by Steve Bruce on a season-long loan deal after being courted by Middlesbrough. While he was never able to consistently blow Villa Park away, he did show flashes of tremendous skill and ability. He scored two goals for the Villans and looked to be the energetic winger that would kick-start the Villa for Bruce. That, of course, never came to pass and the player never looked comfortable, truly, under Dean Smith.

Yannick’s decision was likely helped along by the fact that Villa, no matter the league they end up in, will be in no position to offer him a deal. For his ability, Bolasie is somewhat overpriced and while he could still perform at Premier League level, it’ll come at a massive cost. It is quite clear that this loan stint was seen as a rehabilitation period for the player and his parent club after Bolasie suffered a horrific cruciate ligament injury a while ago. He’s gotten fitter and should be fighting for a place at the club that actually pays his contract. Of course, Yannick chose to end the loan himself so the idea here is that he’ll do just that and fight for a place at Everton, and why not?

For what it’s worth, Villa probably didn’t get £75,000 a week of production out of Bolasie because in any league, that is going to take something special to fulfil. The player was on the end of a fair bit of criticism during his time at Villa and while some was unwarranted, it’s always going to follow a player who is being paid that much money.

All the best, Yannick.