£5.2m-a-year Aston Villa player could leave in January as Milan considers a transfer.

£5.2m-a-year Aston Villa player could leave in January as Milan considers a transfer.

The Villans could suffer a January setback…

Last season, there were clues that Unai Emery was constructing something special at Aston Villa, but no one could have predicted the Villans’ stunning climb into the Premier League’s top four this season. As the holiday season approaches, there is a very real prospect that the Midlands club will be perched on the tree, which would be the season’s biggest surprise. Given that Emery’s squad is only two points behind leaders Liverpool and has recently defeated the two clubs immediately above and below them, it would undoubtedly be deserved.

Their place among the very best that English football has to offer doesn’t mean that Aston Villa will stop making changes within their squad though, with one particular player attracting interest from a European giant ahead of the January transfer window.

Aston Villa transfer updates
In the last year, Aston Villa have placed themselves back on the map both on and off the field. After qualifying for the Europa Conference League, they received their honors away from Villa Park. With European football on offer, the Midlands club drew one of the Bundesliga’s best stars in Moussa Diaby. Diaby’s 25 goals and assists for Bayer Leverkusen last season catapulted him to stardom, and Villa have benefited from his signing ever since.

One signing who hasn’t quite found his feet, however, is Clement Lenglet. The Frenchman signed on loan from Barcelona in the summer but could already leave the club in January. According to Calcio Mercato, AC Milan have made contact with Barcelona to sign Lenglet, whose struggle for game time at Villa could see his loan spell cut short by the La Liga giants.

If Milan do want to sign the defender on loan in January, then they will have to cover his wages, which reportedly sit at €6m (£5.2m) a year. This means that the Italian side would have to fork out £2.6m across a six-month loan spell and that the move may only be possible if Barcelona covered a percentage of Lenglet’s wages.

“Strong” Lenglet requires a departure from Aston Villa.
Lenglet would have hoped to make a similar impact at Aston Villa after excelling on loan at Tottenham Hotspur last season. That has not been the case, with Lenglet’s game time showing his shortcomings for all to see. The Frenchman has not played in the Premier League and has only appeared in the Europa Conference League. Lenglet is the one who needs to relocate in January.

It’s a shame for the Barcelona man, who earned the praise of Hugo Lloris whilst at Spurs last season. The former Lilywhites captain said via The Daily Mail: “He’s a modern defender. Comfortable to be able to play from the back. He has a great left foot and can be very strong in one v one and he’s strong in the air. Even if it’s never easy when you arrive in the Premier League and he will have to adapt to the intensity of the games but he is a high level player, with experience.”