The 28 years Leander Dendoncker left Aston Villa to join…..
Aston Villa midfielder Leander Dendoncker is preparing himself to work under his second manager at Napoli just three weeks after joining the Italian champions on loan until the end of the season. Unai Emery sanctioned the loan departure of Dendoncker to Napoli prior to the transfer deadline passing, having deemed his squad deep enough to cope without the Belgian.
Dendoncker, 28, scored in the 3-2 defeat at Manchester United on Boxing Day in a rare start – indeed his only league start this season – but had otherwise found minutes hard to come by, with Emery having plenty of existing midfield options and adding to those by signing Dendoncker’s compatriot Youri Tielemans and fellow midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo on loan in the summer.
Dendoncker, previously of Wolves, was free to leave Villa and source regular game time elsewhere – but his switch to Serie A hasn’t really yet had lift-off. Napoli have endured a disastrous defence of their title. They are currently an enormous 27 points off runaway leaders Inter Milan and are contemplating a campaign next year without European football of any kind.
Napoli, who play Barcelona this week in the first leg of a Champions League last 16 tie, have just parted with their second manager of the season, former Watford boss Walter Mazzarri. He managed to lead Gli Azzurri to just four wins in 12 league matches having taken over from the sacked Rudi Garcia in November. They’ve already appointed their former coach and current Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona in his place.
Dendoncker, who has played just 11 minutes spanning two substitute appearances since joining Napoli at the end of last month and who has been on the bench for their last two matches, was understood to have been convinced by Mazzarri to join in the first place having needed some persuasion to leave Villa.
With that manager now no longer in charge, just weeks after Dendoncker’s arrival, there is a degree of uncertainty as to what lies ahead for the Villa loanee. It is thought Dendoncker has a contract with Villa which runs until 2026, meaning two more years on the deal he agree when signing for Steven Gerrard when he returns in the summer, although there is a suggestion Napoli have an option to purchase him permanently in the summer.
