Aston Villa are reportedly still waiting for a decision from RB Leipzig as to whether or not they will exercise their option to buy on defender Kosta Nedeljkovic this month.
The talented 19-year-old joined us from Red Star Belgrade last summer, but after struggling for minutes and having a limited role to start last season, he was sent out on loan to the Bundesliga outfit in January.
READ MORE: Negotiations touted as exit talk for key Villa ace shows no sign of abating
Nedeljkovic went on to make 11 appearances for them, totalling 548 minutes of football, and now the wait goes on to determine whether or not he will return to Villa this summer or secure a permanent switch to Germany.
According to Sky Sport Germany’s Philipp Hinze, Leipzig haven’t yet decided if they are going to exercise their option to buy, albeit they still have time as it remains valid through to the end of June.
Having made a coaching change during the last campaign and put in a temporary solution until the end of the season with an interim boss, their new coach will undoubtedly have an important say as to whether Nedeljkovic remains or not, and so that is ultimately behind the delay over making a decision as he’s yet to be appointed.
It’s added that the deal could be worth €10.5m plus €4.5m in bonuses, and so with Villa under pressure to sell this month in order to remain compliant with PSR ahead of the June 30 deadline, it could prove to be a pivotal transfer in our bid to balance our books and avoid having to sell a more influential figure in the current squad.
Losing the talented young Serbian international would still be disappointing though, as having shown plenty of potential with us in pre-season last summer, it was felt as though he could be an important long-term solution at right-back with the benefit of being able to continue to improve and develop under Unai Emery.
However, with his lack of playing time and the eventual decision to allow him to move out on loan with an option to buy included in the agreement, it arguably gives a strong indication that perhaps Villa don’t believe Nedeljkovic will be a key player for us moving forward.
If Leipzig trigger their option, we’ll bid farewell to him and hopefully that bridges the gap to lower our losses to within the acceptable parameters for PSR, or at the very least gets us very close and another less damaging exit than say a Emiliano Martinez can get us over the line and reset for the remainder of the summer transfer window.
Villa have been inactive thus far in the market, and perhaps uncertain issues like Nedeljkovic’s future are currently holding us back from making key decisions to improve and strengthen the squad.
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