Aston Villa’s Kosta Nedeljković needs to sort out his transfer future as RB Leipzig are unlikely to extend his stay.
The Premier League side signed the right-back from Red Star Belgrade in January 2024 and sent him back on loan.
He arrived at Villa Park later that year but found it difficult to enjoy regular minuets. To put it in context, he played 348 minutes from 10 matches for Aston Villa.
Therefore, the English club let him join the Bundesliga side on loan in February 2025. Last summer, Leipzig extended the Serbia international’s loan stay for another season with a purchase option.
This didn’t work out well as a knee injury in September forced him to spend close to two months on the sidelines. Two months ago, the Aston Villa man had a back problem and spent over a month away from the pitch.
His stats for Leipzig this season are as follows:
Appearances: 6
Starts: 3
Total minutes: 297
Minutes per game: 50
He hasn’t made an appearance for the German club in this calendar year.
Leipzig unhappy with Aston Villa transfer
Serbia coach Veljko Paunović called up Kosta Nedeljković for the last international break and he played seven minutes in a friendly defeat to Spain.
Thursday’s edition of Bild says the defender will return to Leipzig with a positive feeling despite hardly featuring for his country.
Despite this, the possibility of getting minutes at the Bundesliga side is ‘only a dream’. The Aston Villa player is behind Ridle Baku and Benjamin Henrichs the pecking order at Leipzig.
Taking these factors and his conditions into account, it’s ‘virtually impossible’ for Leipzig to retain him. In short, they won’t exercise the €10m purchase clause.
There was a lot of excitement when he first joining the club at the start of 2025, but a ‘bitter turn of events’ will see him return to Villa Park.
What next for the Serbian
Kosta Nedeljković will return to the Premier League side, where he has a contract until 2029. Transfermarkt value him at €6m.
Unai Emery now has Matty Cash and Andrés García as the two right backs at Aston Villa. Therefore, the Serbian will again struggle for minutes if he were to stay with his parent club.
Two months ago, Sport Witness covered claims that Aston Villa blocked his loan move to Fiorentina on deadline day of the winter market.
Whether the Serie A side will return for him is unclear and if they don’t, Nedeljković may have to look for another option in the summer.
🇵🇹 Ibrahima Ba | “It’s normal”
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— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) April 2, 2026