Amid speculation that Leander Dendoncker is set to leave Aston Villa on loan this week, Unai Emery has a decision to make on his midfield options.
As per Fabrizio Romano, the 28-year-old is set to join Napoli on loan for the rest of this season, while there is a €9m option to buy clause included in the agreement to potentially make it permanent in the summer.
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While it remains to be seen what decision is made by the Serie A giants at the end of the current campaign, it presents Villa and Unai Emery with an important decision that will impact us for the next few months.
Despite the fact that Dendoncker has been limited to just 15 appearances across all competitions so far this season, totalling 395 minutes of football, he has been a key option for Emery to provide competition and depth in central midfield.
When fit, Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara will of course be our first-choice pairing in that department, while we’ve seen the likes of John McGinn and Youri Tielemans fill in when needed at times this season already.
However, that duo have proven to be so much more effective further up the pitch in more advanced roles, and so it’s not ideal that we have to shackle them in more defensive and deeper midfielder positions.
That’s where Dendoncker has been a useful option to have in reserve, as he can offer a physical presence and protection in front of the backline, thus allowing Luiz to continue to have the freedom to dictate and not worry as much about going back towards his own goal.
So, should the Belgian midfielder complete his switch to Napoli, what is the most effective way for Villa to fill that void?
Looking internally, Tim Iroegbunam could be ready to step up. Having spent much of the season recovering from injury after an early setback in pre-season, he’s only had four minutes of Premier League action thus far.
However, since returning from that injury, he has been a consistent presence in training with the senior squad and has been named on the bench multiple times. Although he still lacks experience in the top flight, he has developed well at youth level and during his loan stint at QPR last season, and he does have the attributes that would make him an Emery type player in that role.
The 20-year-old has a high level of technical ability, physicality, athleticism and composure in possession, while having the energy and tenacity to cover plenty of ground.
Emery will know better than anyone where the youngster is at in his development and if he’s now integrated enough in the senior group to be able to come in and be a key piece in the side, and so that’s the big decision for the Villa boss as to whether or not Iroegbunam fills the void.
Alternatively, we could look outside of the club and attempt to bring in a January reinforcement with more experience. That said, having shifted Dendoncker’s salary off the wage bill temporarily, do we necessarily want to make a significant signing if we’re trying to balance the books to an extent?
With Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Iroegbunam in the squad, we have two top young talents pushing to impress. It could be the ideal balance between experience and youth, or we could be left short.
Ultimately though, while Emery’s judgement will cast the final vote and that is reassuring in itself, it would be refreshing to see our youngsters get a chance to shine and either cement their respective places in the squad for next season, or perhaps secure moves elsewhere that provide us with an important injection of revenue, as seems to be part of our strategy moving forward.