Aston Villa defender Kosta Nedeljkovic could be loaned out this month having struggled to get playing time with us so far this season.
The 19-year-old was signed from Red Star Belgrade last January, but remained with the Serbian giants for the remainder of the last campaign.
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Having joined up with the senior Villa squad for our pre-season preparations this past summer and made a positive impression, it had been hoped that he would go on to become a key part of the group this season as cover for Matty Cash at right-back.
However, he has been limited to just eight appearances thus far, totalling 323 minutes of football, and despite arguably deserving more opportunities given he has looked promising in those outings, clearly Unai Emery doesn’t yet feel as though he has adapted enough to his demands to earn a more prominent role.
In turn, the Villa boss has now dropped a big hint that the Serbian international could be loaned out this month to gain regular playing time and to develop his game elsewhere, which in turn opens up the possibility that Villa will look to bring in a right-back to provide competition for Cash for the remainder of this season.
“We have Kosta [Nedeljkovic] and sometimes Bogarde played there,” Emery told the media at his pre-match press conference. “With Kosta we have a plan. Firstly it was to do the pre-season, secondly we decided to keep him in the squad for the first part of the season. I think he will need to get minutes, get confidence and feel comfortable playing and here it is difficult for him to get it.
“One option is to let him go on loan. In case he is going on loan, as we planned it in the last weeks, we are as well trying to find something for the right side.”
On one hand it would have been frustrating for Nedeljkovic not to play more consistently, particularly when Cash has been sidelined by injury, as it seemed to make sense to give him chances to settle in the side, gain valuable experience and adapt his game to suit the Premier League through playing.
Although that hasn’t happened, he would have benefitted from working with Emery, his coaching staff and the rest of the squad in training on a daily basis to continue learning and improving, and so hopefully that’s now set him up well and Villa find a perfect landing spot for him for the rest of this season.
That said, it’s hoped that this isn’t the start of Nedeljkovic going down a path which ultimately leads to a Villa exit if we move on and find another option who displaces Cash, as he is clearly talented and has plenty of potential, and so it would be a real shame if his window at Villa has already passed by.