Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea didn’t prove to be too detrimental to their ambitions of finishing fourth in the Premier League, as Tottenham Hotspur lost to Arsenal on Sunday.
Unai Emery’s squad is on the cusp of achieving something extraordinary, having built a wonderful squad since arriving in October 2022.
This summer, however, he will be keen on moving some deadwood out the door in order to raise funds for future signings, with Leander Dendoncker surely top of the pile.
How much Aston Villa signed Leander Dendoncker for
Steven Gerrard brought the Belgian international to the Midlands as the summer transfer window was drawing to a close in September 2022, splashing out £13m on the midfielder.
On the surface, it looked like a decent signing. Dendoncker had represented Belgium in both the World Cup and the European Championship, while racking up 124 Premier League appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers prior to his move.
Steven Gerrard’s signings for Aston Villa in summer 2022 |
|
---|---|
Player |
Club signed from |
Boubacar Kamara |
Marseille |
Diego Carlos |
Sevilla |
Philippe Coutinho |
Barcelona |
Leander Dendoncker |
Wolves |
Robin Olsen |
AS Roma |
Ludwig Augustinsson |
Seville |
Jan Bednarek |
Southampton |
Via Transfermarket |
Fast-forward nearly two years, however, and the move hasn’t quite turned out as first anticipated, with the Belgian failing to really make much of an impression during his time at Villa Park – earning more than Matty Cash in the process.
Leander Dendoncker has rinsed Aston Villa dry
The former Anderlecht midfielder earns a staggering £90k-per-week at Villa, which is £10k more than Cash, who is currently earning £80k-per-week.
To put this into perspective, Cash is currently the first-choice right-back at the club, having played 43 games this season, scoring five goals and chipping in with three assists.
Emery clearly sees the English-born Polish international as an undisputed starter ahead of next season, yet he is still earning less than Dendoncker for his troubles.
The forgotten man is currently on loan at Napoli, appearing to have no future in the Midlands under Emery.
Since joining in 2022, the 29-year-old has rinsed the club dry of £20m – combining his £13m transfer fee with the £7m in wages that he has earned during that period – proving to be a colossal waste of money.
Leander Dendoncker’s Aston Villa stats
During his only full season at the club last term, he only made 21 appearances across all competitions, starting just 11 times, as he began to fall out of favour the moment Emery arrived in mid-October.
Among his teammates during 2022/23, Dendoncker only ranked 13th for overall Sofascore rating (6.7) in the Premier League, along with ranking 16th for accurate passes per game (13.8), 12th for accurate long balls per game (0.6) and for tackles per game (1), suggesting that even when he was given a chance in the team, he failed to produce the goods.
Emery will be hoping that his spell in Naples will put him in the shop window ahead of a summer move, as shifting his £90k-per-week wages could allow the manager to create space for potential signings – with Football Insider reporting that he has no future at the club moving forward, amid interest from Everton.
Dendoncker has certainly rinsed the club dry since September 2022 and the Spaniard will be hoping to avoid the mistakes Gerrard made when delving into the transfer market.
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