Bertrand Traoré heads back to the club where he began his professional career on Monday.
The skilful winger joined Chelsea as an 18-year-old from Auxerre back in 2013, making ten Premier League appearances for the Blues.
Now back in England after spells in the Netherlands and France, Traoré is looking forward to making his mark at Stamford Bridge as an Aston Villa player.
“I can’t wait to be back there and to play against Chelsea. I think it’s going to be nice,” he said.
“I know a couple of players over there that I’ve played with. It will be nice to see them again. It will be a bit strange there without the fans.
“It’s going to be a tough game. Chelsea is an opponent that have a lot of quality in their team.
“These kinds of games, we just have to enjoy it, play to our fullest and fight for the three points.”
A move back to England means playing more football over the festive period than Traoré has been used to since leaving Chelsea in 2017, with the Dutch Eredivisie and Ligue 1 having breaks between Christmas and New Year.
But the increased demands of a hectic schedule do not phase the Burkina Faso international.
He said: “I am prepared for it. This year I had to say I’m not going anywhere for Christmas, I will stay and play football. I’m ready for it.
“There have been a lot of games, but I’m used to playing like this. When I was at Ajax and Lyon we played European football, so sometimes you play three games a week.
“I’m happy here. The facilities here give you everything you need to work. Coming to Villa was a great choice for me.”
