Aston Villa have made some transfer howlers over the years, and the past few years of financial mismanagement have culminated in the pressure faced by Steven Gerrard.

He too spent big during the summer, unloading a reported £63m on seven incomings.

However, one player who he decided almost instantly was surplus to requirements was an old transfer in Egypt international Trezeguet.

Having been signed back in 2019 by Dean Smith for a fee of £8.75m, the winger has struggled to acclimatise to Villa Park. His statistics have certainly suffered because of this.

Before moving to the Midlands he was coming off the back of a fine season for Kasimpasa in Turkey. He had scored nine and assisted another nine in just 34 league appearances, so the decision to sign him and hand him a (€60k-per-week) £52k-per-week contract looked like a calculated risk.

Six goals in his debut season in the Premier League again actually showed promise, and at this moment it did not seem like a deal that would go so dramatically south.

But, inevitably, it did.

Just two goals the season following, and a loan spell back to Turkey last season all but sealed his fate. He left the club to return to a league he knew he could dominate, having rinsed Villa of a total of £16.85m.

Having spent just 153 weeks at the club, he took what he could whilst offering little back on the pitch.

He was a particularly useless asset for Gerrard from the off, not only due to his form but his position.

As a left winger, his place in a tactical identity that prefers narrowness in the midfield and the width to be created by full-backs instantly poses a problem.

With Lucas Digne and Matty Cash immovable in their respective positions, and Philippe Coutinho reverting to a central role after years of playing off the left, there was never a future for Trezeguet once the 42-year-old was appointed.

This, combined with years of poor form sealed him as a terrible transfer all-around for NSWE and Villa.