Unai Emery could be handed a boost to solve one key problem at Aston Villa by finally utilising a forgotten player.
The 2023/24 season was something to celebrate at Villa Park, as Unai Emery marched his Aston Villa side to the Champions League in his first full campaign.
While there has been plenty to cheer about since Emery’s arrival, the Spaniard is pushing to make the 2024/25 calendar even better, with Villa’s activity in the transfer window heating up.
The new arrivals will get the most attention ahead of the upcoming campaign however, another notable presence was spotted in Villa’s latest training footage.
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Leander Dendoncker spotted in Aston Villa pre-season training footage
On Tuesday, Villa posted footage from their return to training ahead of a bustling pre-season tour.
The club’s official media channel posted on X to show the players partaking in the first part of the gruelling pre-season sessions, with Leander Dendoncker featuring.
Dendoncker has become a forgotten name at Villa, seeing him leave the club on loan in January to play the end of the 2023/24 season in Serie A at Napoli.
Napoli turned down the option to buy the Belgian, resulting in him returning to Bodymoor Heath amid doubts over his future in B6.
While reporting to pre-season training doesn’t necessarily mean that the 29-year-old will be playing in claret and blue next term, Emery could certainly consider utilising the midfielder whilst he is still at the club.
Unai Emery could actually benefit from Dendoncker return
The priority will expectedly be to offload Dendoncker to relieve the club of his £90k-a-week wage demands, although, the Villa boss could rethink the Belgian’s role.
Emery has been warned of a key issue Villa must solve this pre-season, as the club prepare to enter next term without their favoured midfield duo.
Douglas Luiz has become a thing of the past after signing for Juventus, with his counterpart Boubacar Kamara set to be absent for the start of next season as he continues to recover from injury.
Without the Frenchman, Emery is stripped bare of his defensive midfield resources, with few players able to play the anchor role.
Now, up steps Dendoncker, who has the minerals to provide much-needed cover in the position amid a shift in Emery’s midfield.
In the 2022/23 season, the former Wolves ace ranked in the top 3% of Premier League midfielders for his average of 1.88 interceptions per 90, reinforcing his strength in the engine room, via FBref.
The issue of course is that the Villa outsider hasn’t played frequently for a while although, he certainly has the fundamentals to now help Emery if the Spaniard can revive his career in B6.
