Aston Villa have reportedly agreed to extend Emiliano Buendia’s contract by 12 months amid question marks over his future.
The 28-year-old joined us from Norwich City in July 2021, and he has since gone on to make 96 appearances for the club, scoring 10 goals and providing nine assists.
READ MORE: Why Villa’s astute transfer work has impressed ahead of important week
Having established himself as a key figure for Unai Emery after his appointment, he was ruled out for the entire campaign last year after suffering a serious knee injury, and so he was forced to go through a gruelling rehabilitation process to get back to where he is now.
The Argentine playmaker has made 18 appearances so far this season, just three of which have been starts, while he’s totalled only 446 minutes of playing time in a limited role.
Particularly after the signings of Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen over the past 12 months, it has felt as though Buendia is simply falling further down the pecking order at Villa, and that in turn has raised doubts over his future.
As reported by David Ornstein though, he has now reached an agreement with Villa to extend his current contract by 12 months, taking it through to June 2027, but there is said to be ongoing interest from various clubs this month.
It’s added that Villa aren’t currently planning to let him leave on a permanent basis and so a loan exit seems the most likely option this month, but time will tell where that leaves Buendia and the club in the summer.
The expectation is that the contract extension is to strengthen our position when it comes to a sale, as a successful loan stint in the second half of this campaign will raise his value and allow us to demand a bigger fee in the summer.
While it would be great to see Buendia flourish elsewhere and return to Villa better equipped to make a more prominent impact next season, that arguably doesn’t look likely as we continue to move in a different direction, but it will be fascinating to see how the next week and following months play out to provide clarity on his future.
