Aston Villa in the EFL: How is Birkir Bjarnason getting on these days? | OneFootball

Between 2016 and 2019, Villa were a Sky Bet Championship side, sucked into a difficult division for three seasons.

After finishing 13th in 2016/17, Villa produced back-to-back play-off appearances in the following seasons. Middlesbrough ended their promotion dream in 2017/18 but Dean Smith led them back to the Premier League the following year with a 2-1 win over Derby County at Wembley.

Looking at the squad that went up under Smith, it was clear to see the investment that had gone into promotion: Tyrone Mings, John McGinn, Tammy Abraham and, most importantly, retaining Jack Grealish.

One man who played for Villa during their three seasons in the EFL was Birkir Bjarnason. During that 2018/19 season he made 17 of his overall 54 appearances in a Villa shirt.

Despite a limited impact in terms of appearances, he scored two very important goals in a 3-2 win over Wigan Athletic and 1-1 draw with Bristol City. With Villa only three points clear of seventh placed Middlesbrough come the end of the season, their importance is outlined.

Beyond a 2-1 defeat to Norwich City after that, Bjarnason didn’t feature for Villa again competitively.

Brescia was the Iceland international’s destination and Bjarnason went on to make 13 appearances for the Italian club.

At this moment in time, Bjarnason is plying his trade over in Turkey for Super Lig side, Adana Demirspor.

The 2021/22 campaign saw the 34-year-old feature on 33 occasions in the league. He scored five goals and registered an assist in that time, making a further appearance in the Turkish cup and scoring a brace.

in their most recent squad to face Venezuela and Albania. He will be looking to add to his 110 caps in the coming week.

Bjarnason, then, is still playing at an extremely competitive level after his Villa exit. It’s not quite at the level Villa are at now but it’s still international football with Iceland and top-flight football in Turkey.

Aston Villa quiz: Does Villa Park have a higher or lower capacity than these 18 grounds?

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