Aston Villa and Unai Emery 'make decision' to sell first team player this summer

Aston Villa are already said to have made a decision over the future of one of their senior players ahead of this summer. Unai Emery and the club's recruitment staff will already be preparing the summer business, and there will be both ins and outs as Villa prepare for next season.

The level of ins is going to depend on whether Villa are able to finish off their Champions League qualification bid, currently in fourth place and hoping to keep Tottenham at bay between now and the end of the season. The Midlands club should have money to spend either way, but exits will also help that process.

In that vein, Emery is said to have decided to do away with one first team player in Leander Dendoncker. The 28-year-old joined Napoli on loan in January, making three league appearances for the Italian club since. He joined Villa in 2022 on a a fee of around £13million, making 28 league appearances up to this point.

According to Football Insider, the versatile midfielder may have made his last last appearance for Villa, with Emery deciding he has no future at the club. Villa are now said to be welcoming offers for Dendoncker, with his contract not up until 2026. Napoli do have an option to buy worth a reported £7.7million built into the current loan deal, but they do not look likely to activate it at this point given how little he has featured.

Explaining his decision to offload Dendoncker, Emery said in January: "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 to leave and to keep here Tim (Iroegbunam). I am going to work now after today and after the match tomorrow thinking to give him chances to progress with us here in the idea we are trying to build with Tim."