The early signs are that Aston Villa have had an outstanding transfer window.
Dean Smith’s side sit second in the Premier League and are still basking in the glow of thumping champions Liverpool 7-2.
Of course, stellar new arrivals tend to spell bad news for existing members of the squad.
We’ve picked three Villa players who might have wished they’d left the club – at least on loan – and may look at their situation again once the January transfer window opens.
Bjorn Engels
Villa leaked goals too readily before lockdown, but have tightened up substantially thereafter.
Smith has settled on Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings as his first-choice central defensive duo.
In the EFL Cup, Kortney Hause has got games, while Engels, who only joined the club last summer has struggled with injuries.
Upon his return, he finds himself down the pecking order and might have preferred to be getting fit at a club where he will get a run of games to regain full sharpness.
The current situation is that Villa’s backline looks better without Engels than it did when he was playing. That doesn’t bode especially well.
Frederic Guilbert
As per the Express and Star, Frenchman Guilbert feels Villa weren’t completely straight with him over his chances of getting gametime this season.
Matty Cash has come in for big money and is first choice right back, adding attacking thrust and defensive solidity.
It seems Ahmed Elmohamady is his deputy, which has left Guilbert without a Premier League minute to his name thus far.
That Express and Star report says Guilbert was in talks over a loan move to Nantes, but it fell through.
It would be no surprise if he looked for a move come January.
Premier League top scorers 2019/20
- Jamie Vardy – Leicester
23
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Arsenal
22
- Danny Ings – Southampton
22
- Raheem Sterling – Manchester City
20
- Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
19
Henri Lansbury
Lansbury may well have hoped to get a little bit of gametime this season in the cups and as a backup creative midfield option.
The arrival of Ross Barkley has changed the situation somewhat.
That has altered the attacking midfield pecking order, but the Birmingham Mail reported in September that Villa won’t let Lansbury go.
They will wait for his contract to expire at the end of the season, but how much Lansbury will play in the meantime remains to be seen.
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