Following his appearance against Arsenal, Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery may rethink the prospect of selling Leander Dendoncker in January.
This season has been overly positive for Aston Villa with them currently sitting in third place in the Premier League.
Despite having played 24 games this season, Unai Emery has made few changes, as a general rule, to his starting XI.
With that being said, as the season goes on the need for rotation will only get more necessary as fixture congestion continues.
The January transfer window is fast approaching and with that, the rumour mill is in full swing. This has seen star names like Douglas Luiz linked with elite moves away from B6. On top of this, squad players with a lack of minutes have been told they can leave by Emery.
What has been said about Leander Dendoncker?
One of those names is Leander Dendoncker.
It has been reported by David Ornstein that the Villans could look to ‘shift‘ him this winter window. This won’t come as much of a surprise to fans, such has been the general lack of minutes for the Belgian this season.
So far this season he has made just five Premier League appearances, supplemented by one in the League Cup and four in the Europa Conference League. For a player that signed for nearly £13m, that isn’t enough.
The former Anderlecht man has also had to compete with Boubacar Kamara for a place at the base of midfield. Given the Frenchman’s form this season, and last, that is far from an easy task.
With all that being said, a move away may make sense for all parties but keeping him on the books in B6 will prove to be beneficial.
What Unai Emery should keep him
It has to be said, that Dendoncker isn’t the kind of player that is going to blow you away. He will come in and fulfil the job that he has been tasked with.
Just cast your mind back to the 3-0 thrashing of Newcastle at Villa Park toward the end of last season. The Belgian was nothing short of immense and contributed to a massive win.
This performance saw his manager say to Birmingham Mail: “He’s had a lot of problems before. He hasn’t played a lot and today was his opportunity. He is a good example to other players because you have to be ready to play and to add qualities. Dendoncker was really fantastic.”
This was last season and Villa have come a long way in a short space of time since that game. That may be the case but, this weekend gone, Dendoncker came on in place of Kamara and played a role as Villa secured three points against Arsenal.
According to SofaScore, he only had ten touches of the ball but was still able to make an impact defensively. With two tackles and two clearances, he did exactly what he came on to do. He also won 75% of his duels, making life difficult for those Arsenal attacks to be potent.
With a long way to go in the season and high expectations now on the Villans, squad depth will be needed. Although most fans may not be his biggest fan, Dendoncker can certainly do a job and adds solidity to the squad.
When it comes to the January transfer window, Emery could do a lot worse than keeping the Belgian as part of his squad.
