Aston Villa could terminate the contract of outcast before the end of the transfer window
Aston Villa are considering the termination of the contract of outcast defender and midfielder Leander Dendoncker, according to reports.
After the mutual termination agreed with Philippe Coutinho early in the transfer window, Villa are looking into their options for removing another unwanted player on high wages.
The 30-year-old has one year left on his contract and is nowhere near the thoughts of manager Unai Emery. Terminating his contract would reduce the wage bill and potentially free up some headroom in Villa’s financial dealings.
He has a quite hefty salary, which is about £90,000 per week, but barely features for the Birmingham side. His price tag is not exactly high, with his current value being even less than € 5 million. It could be a sensible transfer for the low table side, considering his international experience with the Belgium national team in two FIFA World Cup editions.
Dendoncker’s salary is reported at around £90,000 per week but is not involved in Villa’s first team set-up. He would be allowed to leave for next to no money despite being a Belgian international, but there is no known interest in his services.
He was considered a promising talent as a youngster, with enough versatility to be deployed as a centre-back or as a defensive midfielder. He showed early in his career that he was able to read the game and disrupt the progress of the opposition.
The former Anderlecht player, who spent last season on loan at the Belgian club, joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2018 and was quickly in credit with manager Nuno Espírito Santo, who played with a back three that suited Dendoncker.
Dendoncker totalled 159 games, registering 12 goals and four assists. His contribution also helped them advance to the quarter-finals in the Europa League and finish sixth in the Premier League back in 2019/20. No wonder that Villa was keen on signing him for £13 million.
Dendoncker’s decline
He played 159 matches in all competitions for Wolves, who reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League and finished sixth in the Premier League before Villa picked him up for a reported transfer fee of £13 million in September 2022.
Dendoncker, who has won 32 international caps, was brought to Villa Park by Steven Gerrard and has failed to make any kind of impact.
Gerrard was entirely unsuited to the role and Emery, being a much more advanced coach and manager than Gerrard, seemingly found little to like about Dendoncker in a system that demands energy and dynamism. The Belgian might has been deemed too passive in an evolving game.
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