After a torrid season at Aston Villa, Joleon Lescott signed for AEK Athens on a two-year deal in August, Now only three months after arriving in Greece, Lescott has had his contract terminated by the club. Having only made four appearances, AEK has confirmed via Twitter that the defender's contract has been mutually terminated and he will return to England. The 34-year old suffered a detached cartilage in his knee and was ruled out for six months, prompting the decision for AEK Athens to end their association with the player.
Personal Problems
Lescott signed for AEK Athens days after intense speculation over a move to Rangers, which fell through after the club and the player's agent failed to agree on personal terms, with Rangers claiming that the move failed to materialise due to family reasons.
Personal problems have influenced this latest controversy as there are unconfirmed rumours coming from Greece that Lescott's desire to return to England during his rehabilitation was refused by the Greek club. Now Lescott can return to England but with the need to find himself a new club, as both player and club failed to reach a compromise over the situation that would have allowed Lescott to remain an AEK player.
Rock Bottom
Controversy has not been far behind when it comes to Joleon Lescott, which all started with the player's move from Everton to Manchester City in 2009. Moyes ridiculed the player following his move, accusing the player of having a "poor attitude" following his performance in the opening day 6-1 defeat to Arsenal; with his performance seen as an act of defiance from the player.
Phil McNulty followed up those comments by saying "a fee of £22m plus add-ons is arguably at least twice what Lescott is actually worth". His spell at Man City was fairly quiet until he was in trouble over modelling for a label called Convict with their fashion leading to the defender being accused of promoting violence. However his time at Aston Villa, especially during last season when the Midlands club was relegated, didn't paint the player in a good light.
After
After Liverpool turned them over 6-0 at Villa Park in February, he tweeted a picture of an expensive car which caused a social media backlash by angry fans, and then Lescott went on to describe their relegation as a "weight off the shoulders". Villa fans were glad to see the back of him as they now focus on earning promotion back to the Premier League.
Lescott's attitude has been far from exemplary throughout his career but now looking for another club, it might be time for the defender to hang up his boots given his age. But it wouldn't surprise me if he uses his six-month lay off to get himself back playing Premier League Football.
