Aston Villa have confirmed Robin Olsen, Kortney Hause, Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi have all left the club.
Both Olsen and Hause leave as free agents with their respective contracts expiring on June 30, while loan deals for Rashford, Asensio and Disasi have come to an end and they return to their parent clubs, as per the club’s statement.
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It remains to be seen if discussions take place over bringing any of our loanees back, either temporarily or on a permanent basis, but for now, they have officially departed, and the focus from a Villa perspective will surely soon start to switch on incomings and how we can strengthen Unai Emery’s squad.
Boosted by the reported news that we now have financial clarity when it comes to PSR as we are expected to comply with the financial regulations and not face any sanctions, Villa have also now opened up space in the squad with these departures to start bringing in new signings to hopefully improve the group.
Time will tell how quickly that process plays out, but the decision to let them all go arguably is the most sensible one.
With Olsen and Hause, both have ultimately run their course at the club as we look to lower our wage bill and perhaps average age of the squad. Further, given their limited influence, particularly in the case of Hause due to his injury woes, it feels like the right time for both parties to have a fresh start apart.
As for our loanees, Disasi arguably didn’t do enough to warrant being considered as a permanent signing this summer, and although both Rashford and Asensio added crucial new attacking dynamics to our play in the second half of last season to give us a real lift through the business end of the campaign, it’s questionable as to whether they did enough either, especially when taking into consideration their likely transfer fees and salaries.
In turn, Villa have got a clean slate to an extent having cleared these players off the books, and it now sets up a fascinating July where the expectation is that we’ll start to hear a lot more about potential signings to improve the squad.
These exits give indications as to where we’ll likely look with a back-up goalkeeper, depth at centre-half and right-back and attacking options to bolster our frontline are all surely priorities for Emery, Monchi and our recruitment team, and we’ll hopefully be a stronger unit by the time the transfer window closes later this summer.
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