Aston Villa are planning to move on midfielder Leander Dendoncker this summer, according to Football Insider.
What’s the latest news on Dendoncker’s Villa future?
Unai Emery’s side recorded another Premier League win on Saturday afternoon, defeating Nottingham Forest 2-0 at Villa Park. Goals in the second half from Bertrand Traore and Ollie Watkins sealed the three points to take Villa up into sixth place.
It is now an impressive 11 wins from 17 for Emery in the Midlands, and it looks as if the Spaniard is already preparing for his first full season in charge.
Recent reports have claimed that Morgan Sanson will be allowed to leave on a permanent basis in the summer, and it looks as if Dendoncker could be given the same treatment despite signing from Wolves just last year.
Football Insider reporter Wayne Veysey shared a story in the last 48 hours regarding Villa and Dendoncker. He revealed that the club are willing to listen to offers and plan to accept a move away, with Dendoncker not viewed as a key part of Emery’s long-term plans.
Villa have already told Dendoncker that he is free to find a new club after the green light from Emery ahead of the summer window.
Will Villa need to replace Dendoncker?
Dendoncker, hailed as a “top player” last year by former Wolve boss Bruno Lage, has started just three Premier League games for Villa this season, one of which came in Emery’s first game in charge against Manchester United.
However, the 27-year-old has seemingly fallen out of favour in recent months, playing less than 100 minutes of top-flight action since the turn of the year. Dendoncker did feature in yesterday’s win, coming on for Emiliano Buendia in the final 15 minutes.
Should the midfielder move on alongside Sanson as expected, Emery will be left with just one out-and-out defensive midfielder in Boubacar Kamara, as per Transfermarkt, so you’d expect that a replacement would be required to bolster the squad.
Villa also paid around €15m (£13m) for Dendoncker’s services, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of that figure the club can recoup ahead of what looks set to be a busy summer.
