Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen has been paired with a potential exit from the club in January as he continues to play a very limited role under Unai Emery.
The 34-year-old’s experience and professionalism has been lauded throughout his time with us as he has offered depth behind Emiliano Martinez, but his time at Villa could be coming to an end.
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With his current contract set to expire next summer and having failed to play a single minute so far this season through a combination of injury and the gradual emergence of Joe Gauci as our No.2 in the pecking order, an exit seems to be the most sensible outcome for all concerned.
According to Fotballskanalen, as reported by BirminghamLive, Malmo ace Pontus Jansson has spoken publicly about Olsen, hinting that there could be a potential move back to Sweden in the offing for the stalwart shot-stopper as it’s noted in the report that there is possible interest from his former club.
“I don’t think I need to persuade him, but we know each other well, so we’ll see what happens. He’s one of my closest friends, so we talk a lot, sometimes a bit of MFF [Malmö] too, but not too much.”
Since joining us in January 2022, Olsen has gone on to make 17 appearances for the club, and although he has been a valued member of the squad and is spoken highly of by his teammates and coaches, he has also faced criticism and doubts during his time with us due to some unconvincing displays.
Nevertheless, he has been an important part of the group in terms of adding competition in training, but particularly with Gauci now moving ahead of him and featuring when Emery has chosen to rotate and rest Martinez, it looks as though Olsen’s role is only going to become increasingly limited, and with his contract situation in mind, a January exit will hopefully materialise.
It promises to be an interesting transfer window in terms of whether or not Villa are firstly in the market, but if so, how they choose to strengthen the squad and build on what will hopefully have been a positive first half of the campaign.
As far as the goalkeeper ranks go though, with youngsters such as Filip Marschall and Oliwier Zych coming through, time will tell if we do look to bring in a new face to fill the void if Olsen moves on.