Leander Dendoncker has quit Aston Villa to join Premier League rivals in January transfer

It has been an excellent start to the season for Aston Villa, with Unai Emery’s side proving competitive in both the Premier League and the Europa Conference League.

Various players have impressed both domestically and in Europe this season, with the Conference League proving to provide an opportunity for those players who have struggled for Premier League minutes to flourish, such as Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans.

One player who has failed to force his way into the Villa first team in both competitions is Leander Dendoncker. The Belgian is no longer part of Emery’s plans and the club are keen to sell him in January with the player’s preference to remain in the Premier League.

Discussing Dendoncker’s future, Belgian freelance journalist Sacha Tavolieri said: “The Belgian is no longer in the squad plans of Unai Emery at all. He will have to find a solution, from a source what we can confirm to you is that he does not wish to leave England and wishes to stay in the Premier League.

“Therefore a solution will have to be found. Especially as with his current club for the moment he is obviously no longer in the Villans’ plans. Therefore a departure is slowly taking shape which is why the management of Aston Villa are trying to push the departure of Leander Dendonker.

“Galatasary are really interested, what we can tell you is that he was offered from the side of Galatasary that it is not at all a challenge that would bother him or that he would even be interested in. Once again staying in England is a priority.”

It has been clear from the start of this season that Dendoncker doesn’t have a future at Aston Villa. The Belgian has only played eight minutes of Premier League football this season, coming from four incredibly brief cameos from the bench.

His only starts have come in the Carabao Cup and the Conference League where there has been little to suggest that Premier League suitors will be queuing up to sign him this January. Against Everton, the Belgian was hooked after 45 minutes having failed to win a single duel or tackle in the clash, while only two of his 26 passes were into the final third [Fotmob].

Against Zrinjski Mostar the same was true again as the 28-year-old failed to attempt a single tackle or ground duel in the match and managed to find a teammate in the final third twice before once again being hauled off at halftime by Emery.

Dendoncker just doesn’t impact matches enough in either box to warrant a place in Aston Villa’s midfield. Last season he fell in the bottom 10 per cent of Premier League midfielders for progressive passes and progressive passes received per 90 minutes played and the 1st percentile for prgressive carries [Fbref].

It is hard to imagine any Premier League side will be desperate to sign one of the league’s most ineffective midfielders on the ball, with Dendoncker attempting an average of 37.84 passes a match last season, less than 75 per cent of his positional peers.

Defensively he shone, making more interceptions than 96 per cent of the division’s midfielders and fell in the 92nd percentile for blocks per match, but that side of his game has barely been visible in his limited minutes this season.

Aston Villa will be relying on the fact that a Premier League team will remember Dendoncker’s time at Wolves fondly and be impressed by his defensive output last season and therefore move to sign him in January, so they can finally get the Belgian off of their books.