Leander Dendoncker returned to Aston Villa after a season on loan at Anderlecht. The Jupiler Pro League decide against exercising the purchase option due to his inconsistent performances.
Prior to joining Anderlecht, the 30-year-old struggled at Aston Villa and also during his loan spell at Napoli.
The Belgian is in his final year of contract at Aston Villa, where he doesn’t have a future under Unai Emery.
Tuesday’s edition of Het Nieuwsblad claims this became ‘painfully clear’ when Emery left him out of the squad for the pre-season trip.
Dendoncker is said to have been training with Aston Villa U21s and that’s unlikely to change after the first team’s return from the US.
The Villans want to part ways with him permanently this summer, also to get rid of his ‘hefty salary’. This won’t be easy because there’s no interest in the player.
If there are no movements in the coming weeks, the report states Aston Villa expect to mutually agree to terminate his contract at the end of August.
Het Nieuwsblad explain Emery’s side would like to avoid this as it would be ‘costly’ for them. They may have no choice but to take this step if there are no suitors.
To sum it up, the newspaper claims Dendoncker’s ‘career is in the doldrums’ because he has no future at Aston Villa and a lack of interest.
Things can change quickly in football, though, and at 30 there’s still a lot of time left for the Belgian.