Aston Villa’s financial situation following their play-off final defeat to Fulham meant that a return to Villa Park for Robert Snodgrass – who proved such a big hit as Steve Bruce formulated a team capable of a promotion push – looked unlikely.
However, as the summer wore on, new owners meant that Villa were able to not only keep hold of the likes of Jack Grealish and Jonathan Kodjia but dream of bringing the Scotsman back to the West Midlands.
Those links will not go away but in the meantime, Snodgrass returned to West Ham for pre-season and reportedly impressed new Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini during the summer and featured heavily in the warm-up matches.
He featured as a substitute in opening game of West Ham’s competitive season and now his latest comments look like they’ve closed the door on a return to Villa this summer.
Speaking on West Ham’s Instagram story, Snodgrass stated his commitment to the club and to showing the fans what he can do.
He said: “It feels great to be back. It’s great to see some of the lads and show some of you West Ham fans what I’m all about and hopefully have a successful season. The manager is very good, he’s managed at the very top level. He’s one of the best managers to grace the Premier League.
Those comments, both about the fans and the manager, are the words of someone who is only focused on West Ham and regaining his place in the team, despite the influx of new arrivals.
Snodgrass also issued a rallying cry to his team-mates after the weekend’s thrashing at Anfield. All his actions are suggesting he is not interested in a Villa return – and Pellegrini will be pleased by that as he could well be a useful option this season.
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