Aston Villa duo Kosta Nedeljkovic and Triston Rowe are reportedly both set to leave the club before the end of this summer transfer window.
It’s long been an issue for Villa and Unai Emery trying to find competition and depth at right-back to challenge Matty Cash, with Andres Garcia departing on loan earlier this summer, while Nedeljkovic was shipped out on an initial temporary basis last season too.
Despite making a decent impression in pre-season once again this summer though, it looks as though the Serbian international will be heading through the exit door once again and potentially for the last time.
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According to The Athletic, the 20-year-old is set to join Rangers on a season-long loan with a £4m obligation to buy clause inserted into the agreement, which will be dependent on appearances.
While it would be disappointing to see him leave again as it arguably looks as though there is a talent there, clearly he hasn’t done enough to convince Unai Emery on the multiple occasions he has been part of the Villa first-team squad, and so an exit, preferably a permanent one now, would seemingly be the best solution for all concerned.
Meanwhile, there might be further disappointment ahead with one of our top young prospects also being linked with a departure, as the Athletic also report in the link above that Rowe is likely to leave before the transfer deadline as well.
It’s added that the 19-year-old could leave either on loan or permanently, and he has interest from multiple clubs with talks being held over a deal.
Rowe has also impressed when involved and his loan stint at Annecy last season had been hoped to be a key part of his development before making a breakthrough at senior level for Villa.
However, again, it doesn’t seem as though he has done enough to convince Emery, and so Villa look set to clear space in the squad and raise funds and wages to bring in a new right-back, and it’s hoped that whoever that target might be, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka being heavily linked in recent days, that they are more capable of providing us with a reliable and consistent presence at right-back to not only cover for Cash, but to also rotate and push him for that starting role.
Nevertheless, particularly in the case of Rowe, it was hoped that he could provide that solution, allowing us to allocate more of our summer transfer budget to other positions.
