Aston Villa midfielder Leander Dendoncker could reportedly be set to join Napoli on loan until the end of the season.
The 28-year-old has been limited to 15 appearances so far this season, totalling 395 minutes of football, and as he remains down the pecking order in our midfield, it doesn’t appear as though his situation is expected to change.
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As per The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Napoli are in talks with Villa to sign him on loan until the end of the current campaign, and although no agreement has been reached as of yet either between the two clubs or on personal terms with the Belgian international, it sounds as though it could be a possibility in the coming days.
Time will tell if Dendoncker seals a move before the January transfer window deadline, but it would seem a sensible move for all concerned given his limited role again so far this year.
With Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara cemented as Unai Emery’s preferred midfield partnership, we have the option of playing either John McGinn or Youri Tielemans centrally when needed too.
Further, it remains to be seen what a Dendoncker exit would mean for talented youngster Tim Iroegbunam, as he’ll no doubt be eager to fill that void and try to secure his place in the senior Villa squad moving forward by impressing Emery when given an opportunity.
The Athletic noted earlier this month that Dendoncker was one of the players in the current squad that we were willing to move on, and so it remains to be seen if that’s with the view of bringing in a replacement, either within the next week or in the summer.
One key aspect of any potential move to Napoli though will be the inclusion of an option or obligation to buy, as although a straight loan deal will likely get his wages off the books for the next six months, if he doesn’t feature in Emery’s long-term plans, we’d ideally be able to offload him at the end of the season permanently.
According to Fabrizio Romano, it will include an option to buy clause, and so it will be interesting to see what conditions will need to be met for that to be triggered. Conversely, he notes that the deal is being finalised and that the Villa midfielder has accepted the proposal.
