Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has revealed why Morgan Sanson, Philippe Coutinho and Leander Dendoncker weren’t involved against Newcastle Utd in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Villa secured a 3-3 draw in the first of our three pre-season games in the USA this week as part of the Premier League Summer Series, with goals from Ollie Watkins and a brace from Emiliano Buendia.
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Summer signings Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres both came off the bench to feature and get valuable minutes, while a number of our youngsters including Jaden Philogene and Omari Kellyman impressed as they continue to be involved to add depth as well as trying to stake their claim for a role this season.
However, there were some notable absentees too who weren’t even named on the bench, but Emery was open to clearing up the situation regarding a particular trio after the game.
“Sanson is very close to leaving and that is the reason he didn’t play,” Emery said, as per BirminghamLive. “Coutinho trained this morning alone and he is going to be ready for the next days training with the group and ready for the next matches. Dendoncker is still in Birmingham because he had a baby and he stayed there for this reason.”
While it doesn’t come as much of a surprise given that there have been doubts over Sanson’s future at Villa for some time, it’s disappointing to finally see him set to move on and end his time with us.
Plagued by injuries and with competition for places severely limiting him too, it was a difficult stint for the Frenchman, but it had been hoped that he could still shine under Emery.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it will be the case, and it will be interesting to see if his departure now means we’ll be in the market for another midfielder this summer.
As for Coutinho, it’s hoped that was always the plan as he makes his comeback from injury troubles of his own at the end of last season, and he certainly needs minutes in the next two games to step up his fitness levels and sharpness if he still has a role to play for us this season.
Meanwhile time will tell if we see Dendoncker in the USA this week, or if the decision is made for him to stay behind and work on his fitness until the squad return, as we’ll still have friendlies against Lazio and Valencia that he can feature in before the Premier League campaign gets underway on August 12.
