Unai Emery will hand Morgan Sanson a clean slate at Aston Villa as the Spaniard offers his new squad a fresh start. His stance will come as a blow for Sunderland amid their interest.
That is according to The Telegraph, which reports Emery does not have any preconceived judgments of the players he adopted. The Spaniard has taken charge in Birmingham after the club sacked Steven Gerrard last month. He will make his debut at the helm on Sunday.
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Aston Villa host Manchester United in Emery’s first match and the 51-year-old will give all of his players a chance to impress. The former Arsenal and Villarreal coach has adopted a side that sat 16th in the table entering the weekend having claimed just 12 points in 13 games.
Sanson has played no part in Aston Villa’s difficult start to the season. Gerrard named the Frenchman on the bench for his final five matches in charge. Aaron Danks also elected to leave the 28-year-old as an unused substitute during his two fixtures as the interim coach.
Gerrard did not list Sanson in a matchday team before September 16 as Aston Villa hosted Southampton. It was the claret-and-blue club’s seventh fixture in the Premier League this season. So, he has made half of the available teams but has not yet played a single second.
Emery will give Sanson a fresh start at Aston Villa amid his links to Sunderland
Gerrard admitted this August, via the Express & Star, that Sanson was ‘frustrated’ with his lack of games for Aston Villa. The former Villans boss also noted that ‘we won’t stand in his way’ if the Birmingham team received a suitable bid that caught the midfielder’s attention.
Besiktas were interested in taking Sanson from Aston Villa at the time, per Takvim. But the Super Lig side failed to progress their discussions after suggesting a loan-to-buy move. Villa wanted €10m (£8.5m) to flog the midfielder they signed from Marseille for £16m in 2021.
Since the summer, Sunderland have taken an interest in Sanson’s situation at Aston Villa. Jeunes Footeux reports the Championship side and Swansea City may rival RC Strasbourg Alsace in January. The struggling Ligue 1 side are hopeful of taking the Frenchman on loan.
But Emery is set to put a dent in Sunderland, Swansea and Strasbourg’s interest in signing Sanson from Aston Villa. Although with the Villans only playing four more games across all competitions before the New Year due to the World Cup, he does not have long to dazzle.
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