What Emery has already said about getting rid of Dendoncker as £9m exit news emerges
Leander Dendoncker looks destined for an Aston Villa departure this summer.
The Belgium international has remained a fringe player in the Villans’ squad in recent years after his strange move from Wolves in 2022.
This saw the 30-year-old spend last season on loan at Anderlecht, but his return to the Pro League looks increasingly unlikely at this stage.
With that being said, Unai Emery has already showcased exactly how he feels about the midfielder and his space in the squad moving forward.
Emery stance on Dendoncker sale emerges
There is no getting away from the fact that the defensive-minded dud represents almost everything wrong with the transfer work of Steven Gerrard.
In his one summer in charge in B6, only Boubacar Kamara can be seen as a successful addition despite being joined by another six fresh faces.
The likes of Ludwig Augustinsson and Jan Bednarek sum up that window, with Dendoncker joining as yet another failed move.
- Gerrard signed nine players in charge of Aston Villa
- Four joined on loan, while £86.5m was spent in transfer fees [Transfermarkt]
- Dendoncker represented £13 of that on top of a £90k-per-week wage [Capology]
It is the Belgian who has remained on a permanent basis but has gone on to make just 36 appearances in claret and blue.
This was before his loan move to Napoli in January 2024, something which Emery was more than willing to sanction without signing a replacement.
Instead, the Spaniard put his faith in Tim Iroegbunam for the second half of the campaign before going on to secure a £9million move to Everton last summer [BBC Sport, 22 June].
Ahead of the ex-Wolves man’s move to Naples, Villa’s boss spoke to the Express and Star (25 January 2024), saying: “Leander Dendoncker is a little bit similar [to Tim Iroegbunam], and when we were trying to analyse deeply how we can face the last four months in every competition we are facing.
“I decided to let Dendoncker leave and to keep Tim [Iroegbunam] here.”
Aston Villa have to sell Dendoncker now
It says it all that the man at the helm of the Villans was willing to part ways with the Anderlecht academy product to instead utilise a 20-year-old.
This only speaks a higher volume when you consider how willing the claret and blue outfit were to lose Iroegbunam as part of a swap deal with Lewis Dobbin.
With that in mind, it has to be an aim of huge importance right now to part ways with Dendoncker and free up the wage bill.
UEFA are continuing to breathe down Villa’s neck, and getting a sizable weekly fee off the books could ultimately help a new face or two come in before the campaign begins.
Sign up for the Villa News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Aston Villa news sent straight to your phone.