There have been only a few Aston Villa men who departed after representing their nations in the FIFA World Cup.
Aston Villa have been quite in a limbo. They have been left behind by their key men as the 2026 FIFA World Cup is about to end. Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digen and most recently, Morgan Rogers. They were part of their starting XI under Unai Emery in the past few seasons with their culminating form in the last campaign, lifting Europa League, to end their 30-year title drought.
Apart from them, there could be more names who could follow in their footsteps. Emiliano Martinez, Ezri Konsa and even Ollie Watkins have been linked to a move elsewhere.
It would be interesting to see if Villa can prevent them and most importantly, spend the transfer budget wisely to get proper replacement. This season could be the worst in the club’s history in terms of losing not just one but three stars after the world cup.
Previously, Villa have only lost four names who left Villa Park after the FIFA World Cup since the Premier League era. Yet, the last one was already 14 years ago. Here are those four figures the fans should not forget.
The former Serbian forward joined Aston Villa in 1995. He left Villa Park after the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he featured twice only.
His last season in Villa shirt was not quite satisfactory as The Lions only finished seventh in the final standings. Overall, Milosevic played in 32 games, netting 10 and setting up five goals.
The ex- Bosnia Herzegovina manager switched sides to Real Zaragoza for £8.5 million and improved his form there. His goals contributed to their fine domestic campaign as they sat fourth on the table.
The ex Croatian frontman joined Villa in 2001 but failed to impress the fans. He was only fielded 11 times without registering a single goal or assist. Balaban was eventually loaned back to his former side, Dinamo Zagreb, where he revived his eye for goals.
The striker who did not even feature in a single game in 2002 FIFA World Cup had his best spells in Club Brugge. He was basically a forgotten player in the Clarets and Blue history.
The former Ecuador defender signed for Aston Villa after the 2002 world cup. He stayed for four years with mixed results at the end of his spell in Villa Park. During his last season there in the 2005/06, De La Cruz only made eight appearances due to his conflict with the manager, David O’Leary. He believed his move out was blocked. Overall, the Ecuadorian played 100 games, contributing two goals and nine assists.
After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he made appearances in all four games as his nation reached the round of 16, the former Hibernian man joined Reading FC for free. De La Cruz did return to Birmingham afterwards but not in Villa Park. He switched sides to Birmingham City instead. That was his last club in Europe before returning to his home soil.
The last Aston Villa man who left Villa Park after the world cup was James Milner. He departed to join Manchester City for £18.71 million. He performed quite well with England in South Africa 2010 as he featured in three games, and registered one assist.
In his last season, 2009/10, the versatile winger scored 12 goals and provided 16 assists in 47 games. He helped Villa finish sixth in the standings. It was his stellar season with the Clarets and Blue.
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