Five Aston Villa stars who may never play another minute as Unai Emery makes stance clear
Aston Villa are fighting for Champions League glory and also battling to get back into the competition next season, with Unai Emery hopeful of utilising an even stronger squad next season. The former Arsenal boss, alongside transfer chief Monchi, have successfully used the market to bolster Villa’s squad and this summer is unlikely to be any exception.
But as Villa try to grow their squad, exits will take place, and a handful of players may already have played their last game for the club before moving onto new pastures. Here, Express Sport has taken a look at those who may never feature again for Villa.
Kortney Hause
Villa defender Hause has not played in over three years, having been tormented by a knee injury. It has been 1100 days since he took to the pitch for the club, while playing just thrice for Watford on loan in that period, and was not included in Villa’s Premier League squad.
His contract expires this summer and it is firmly expected that he will move on, after the 29-year-old recently broke his silence and provided some optimism regarding his fitness woes.
After a picture of Hause on a massage bed was posted to social media, he wrote: “Looking good. Feeling better. Gotta fight the good fight.”
Emi Buendia
Buendia was a regular for Villa in his first two seasons at the club, before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury that has since scuppered his involvement.
The Argentine is spending the remainder of the season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso and already had a heated on-pitch confrontation with Victor Boniface. But that was played down and there is a £17million purchase option that the German club could take up this summer.
Emery has already shown that he prefers the likes of Morgan Rogers, Marco Asensio and Youri Tielemans in the attacking midfield role that Buendia occupies.
Robin Olsen
Goalkeeper Olsen made his first league start of the season in the 1-0 victory away to Brentford earlier this month, but with Emi Martinez’s stature as undisputed number one, the Swede may want to try his hand elsewhere for more opportunities to play.
His contract is up at the end of the season and there has been reported interest from Copenhagen.
Philippe Coutinho
Many would be surprised to hear that officially, Coutinho is still a Villa player. The former £142m Barcelona man has not played for the club since August 2023 and is spending the season on loan at Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama.
Coutinho still has a year left on the contract he signed in 2022 but it is unlikely he will return to the first-team fold.
Leander Dendoncker
Dendoncker arrived at Villa Park in 2022 from neighbours Wolves, where he enjoyed a stellar reputation in the Premier League. However, he has played just 28 times in the top flight since and spent the last year on loan at Napoli and now Anderlecht.
He, like Coutinho, has another year on his deal but is firmly out of favour and Anderlecht do have the option to buy him outright at the end of the season should they wish to do so.
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