Joey Barton outlines Aston Villa loan hope after Lamare Bogarde’s Bristol Rovers return

Joey Barton has thanked Aston Villa for allowing him and Bristol Rovers to work with Lamare Bogarde again.

The 19-year-old returned to the Memorial Stadium for a second spell, this time on a season-long loan. He was at Rovers earlier this year on a six-month loan spell, but now will be afforded the entire 2023/24 campaign.

Barton has had the desire to work with players who he has had on loan before and was the third player to enter their second spell with the club. Connor Taylor and Luke Thomas had both signed permanent deals at the Memorial Stadium, meanwhile Bogarde will have had 18-months at the Mem, before returning to Villa Park.

All four of Rovers’ signings have come from Premier League clubs, and some clubs are specific as to what their expectations are over the loan move.

Lower league clubs can sometimes be penalised for not playing a player enough or give a specific preference as to which position they’d like to play but Villa have been accomodating towards Rovers, and are just keen for him to continue his development.

“They’re really happy with the job we did with him last season,” said the 40-year-old.

“They don’t really come with that kind of caveat. It’s the more they play, sometimes they have incremental fees that get chipped away if they play more games.

“Every loans are different and some come with a caveat, some don’t and some have stipulations and some don’t.

“I think that depends who you are dealing with and what type of player.”

His arrival this summer was needed given that Jordan Rossiter is still recovering from a damaged meniscus, and he will be able to provide cover to Grant Ward and Sam Finley, who have this season played as the two holding midfielders in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Bogarde came on as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat to Cambridge United last week, which was the first defeat of their 2023/24 League One campaign. He is now pushing for a start as Rovers face Wycombe Wanderers this Saturday, in what will be his second home debut should he come on.

Barton added: “I think Villa have been really happy with the job we did with Lamare from January untill the end of the season, and thankfully they’ve trusted us with the next stage of his development.

“We’re absolutely delighted to have him in our team and with our group.”