Stiliyan Petrov has explained (as reported in the Birmingham Mail) why his former club disappointed him during his period on trial with the club.
Petrov, who first represented the club in 2006, was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2012 and was forced into retirement as a result.
Following his recovery from the illness, Petrov returned to the club on trial in the summer. He, along with the rest of the Villa squad, went on the club’s pre-season tour of Austria. He was, however, disappointingly for him and Villa fans, told afterwards that he wouldn’t be rejoining the club as a player.
Petrov, initially speaking on Goals On Sunday, Said:
(from the Birmingham Mail). “I managed to do it. I thought afterwards that i would be in the right role, I’m getting closer, but they’ve told me that I won’t get anything at the club as a player.
They offered me a role as a coach in the youth system, I didn’t want it. Not yet. I wanted to finish as a footballer. I didn’t have a chance and I think I’ve lost my heart after that because I’ve put so much work in.
I said before I was ready just to finish as a player. I didn’t want a pay off, I didn’t want to twist their hands about contracts or anything else. I just wanted to finish as a footballer because it was taken away from me.
“They didn’t need to make that decision so early. They didn’t give me a reason. If Di Matteo had turned round and said ‘you know what, you’re not good enough, you’re not fit enough, you’re too old’, then I would have accepted it.”
