Aston Villa are currently sitting in 11th place in the Premier League table with 12 matches left to play before the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Villans are 11 points clear of the drop zone and eight points ahead of 12th place as they look set to remain in the top division for another season.
They have avoided relegation back down to the Championship since Dean Smith led the club back to the top flight via the play-offs in 2018/19 – their third straight term in the second division.
Smith was able to bring the team back to the Premier League and achieved survival in both of his full campaigns in charge after that, but he did not have the best of luck in the transfer market during his time at the helm.
One signing that did not go to plan was the purchase of Wesley from Belgian side Club Brugge. Signed for a colossal fee of £22m, it was a club-record deal at the time.
Shortly after the move, Smith backed the forward to be a success in the top flight, saying:
“He was a presence up front. He ran down the sides of them, too. He’s starting to get into the speed of the Premier League. It will take time for a few of them.
“But I have been pleased with his performances so far. All he needs is a goal now.”
What happened to Wesley at Aston Villa?
The Brazilian striker struggled for form in his first season in the Premier League with the Villans as the forward managed five goals in 21 outings in the division, with two of those coming in one match against Norwich.
Despite his unimpressive goal return, FootballTransfers placed his Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at a whopping £30m (€34m) in January 2020 and Villa owners NSWE may have been thinking about the potential profit they'd be making in the near future.
However, his campaign was cut short by a tackle from Ben Mee against Burnley which caused a knee injury that led to him missing a year of action and 40 competitive matches.
Wesley struggled to get back to his best – making just three appearances off the bench in 2020/21 – and went back to Brugge on loan for the 2021/22 season, where he played only six times in all competitions.
Two goals in 20 games on loan at Internacional followed that before the centre-forward signed for Spanish second-division side Levante on loan for the current campaign.
The 26-year-old, who journalist Josh Bunting once tipped to be a "real force", has failed to score a single goal in 27 LaLiga 2 appearances this term with his struggles in recent years now being illustrated by his plummeting market value.
FootballTransfers currently has rate xTV at just £2m (€2.3m), £28m less than he was valued at just over three years ago – a decrease of 93%.
This suggests that Villa would not rake in anywhere near the fee they initially paid for the gem, or the increased valuation the forward had at the start of 2020.
Indeed, NSWE have suffered badly alongside the unfortunate Brazilian – from a financial and footballing perspective – as they are unlikely to see much of their £22m back from Wesley's future departure.
