Aston Villa podcaster Omar Iqbal has been sharing his thoughts on Villa right-back Ahmed Elmohamady and his future at the Midlands club.
This comes after Iqbal made an appearance on a recent episode of The Villa View Podcast where he spoke about a range of topics concerning the Villans, including their recent 2-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur.
On the subject of Elmohamady – who was not selected to play against the north London club – and his future at Villa, Iqbal had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I wasn’t surprised to see [Ezri] Konsa at right-back [against Spurs] because I think Elmo’s really struggled in games. And I love Elmo, he’s one of my favourite players, he’s done so much for us – he’s one of these players we signed for nothing, he’s had a massive impact in the team, he’s got us up, he’s a massive part of that, he obviously got the assist in the play-off final.
“[He’s been a] great servant to the club, but his days are numbered, and he’s really struggled, I think; against Crystal Palace, I think we saw that.”
Villa signed Elmohamady back in the 2017 summer transfer window from Hull City in a deal worth a reported fee of £1m.
Since then, the 33-year-old, who is currently valued at £1.62 million, has made 129 appearances for Villa across all competitions in which he has managed to score four goals and provide an impressive 17 assists in the process (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Omar Iqbal’s comments on Elmohamady…
Given how Smith chose to play Ezri Konsa, who predominantly plays in the centre-back position for Villa, as a right-back against Tottenham when Elmohamady was available in the squad, this could suggest that the Egyptian is no longer a suitable option for Smith going forward.
Do you think Elmohamady will leave Villa this summer?
Yes
No
Taking this into account and the fact that Elmohamady’s current deal at Villa Park is set to expire at the end of June, perhaps this will be his final season at the club and will leaving in the summer.
In our view, if Elmohamady does leave Villa in the following months, they will definitely need to sign another right-back to replace him in the squad during the transfer window – particularly if his current stand-in is a centre-back by trade.
In other news: ‘I envisage’ – Journalist drops big Aston Villa transfer claim