Aston Villa target Milot Rashica is stuck at Werder Bremen with sporting director Frank Baumann claiming the Bundesliga outfit decided against selling their star man on the cheap, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
A few months ago you’d have got long odds on the jet-heeled Kosovo international remaining at the perennial underachievers of German football beyond the transfer deadline.
Rashica stood head and shoulders above almost everyone else in Florian Kohfeldt’s squad as Werder, champions as recently as 2004, only avoided the drop thanks to a nerve-shedding relegation play-off win over Eintracht Braunschweig.
Baumann confirmed to BuliNews a few weeks ago that Aston Villa were interested, while mooted moves to RB Leipzig and AC Milan came to nothing.
The transfer deadline came and went without Werder Bremen coming to an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen either.
“In the last few days there has been interest from various clubs from home and abroad,” Baumann said.
“There have been talks since noon today but we didn’t want to sell the player below value. They were complex negotiations, in the end without an agreement.”
The Birmingham Mail recently reported Aston Villa had triggered the £20 million release clause in Rashica’s contract but were unwilling to hand him the £75,000-a-week contract he was demanding.
Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller, meanwhile, told Kicker their move for Rashica also fell through due to disagreements over a deal that would have seen the winger arrive at the Bay Arena on an initial loan deal.
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