Aston Villa: 0% Leander Dendoncker must quit Villa Park in January, Unai Emery ‘not convinced’
Leander Dendoncker may be forced to quit Aston Villa in January, with Unai Emery not convinced by him after his recent performances at Villa Park.
The Athletic journalist Jacob Tanswell reported on 17 December that Dendoncker was left out of the starting line-up to face Brentford as Emery did not believe he would be up to the job.
The Belgian midfielder is yet to start a single Premier League game this season after underwhelming displays both off the bench and in opportunities given in the Europa Conference League and domestic cup games.
Substitute appearances against Brentford and Arsenal saw him pick up a combined 39 Premier League minutes, but before that, his last appearance came as an 11-minute cameo in the 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on 5 November.
Dendoncker’s last start for the club came in the 1-1 Conference League draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina side Zrinjski, where Villa needed just a point to progress from their group and earned it, but failed to impress.
The game against Zrinjski provided the midfielder with an opportunity to impress his boss amid several injury concerns, but his 0 per cent ground duel success rate combined with losing the ball eight times and one interception his only defensive contribution, he did not do enough to catch his boss’ eye. [Sofascore]
Across the two Premier League substitute appearances, Dendoncker completed just two passes from six attempted with an accuracy of just 33 per cent, a 0 per cent long ball accuracy, and missed the target with his only shot.
Everton have been reported to be interested in a possible January transfer move for Dendoncker [Liverpool Echo, 15 December], and could offer him a way out of his Villa Park nightmare.
It would suit all parties for the midfielder to jump ship when the transfer window opens, with Villa hopefully also bringing in a good fee for his services to help with any Financial Fair Play concerns.
In other Aston Villa news, a star player has justified his British record price tag already this season.