Report: Aston Villa midfielder Charles N’Zogbia linked with UAE move

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The 29-year-old Frenchman is reportedly the subject of an enquiry from Arabian Gulf League side Baniyas Club.

Aston Villa playmaker Charles N’Zogbia is wanted by Emirati outfit Baniyas Club, according to Sport 360.

The Abu Dhabi-based newspaper states that the Arabian Gulf League side have enquired about signing the out-of-favour Frenchman, whose current deal expires next summer, and are willing to fork out a fee in order to secure his services.

N’Zogbia, 29, joined Villa from Wigan Athletic in the summer of 2011 for around £9.5 million, having bagged nine goals in 34 Premier League games during the previous campaign to help the Latics avoid the drop.

The former Newcastle United man has since struggled to produce the same kind of form in the Midlands, however, featuring 91 times for the club over the past four seasons, while recording just five goals and 17 assists.

A past member of the since-departed Paul Lambert’s infamous “Bomb Squad”, he was expected to leave the club ahead of last season after missing the entire 2013-14 campaign with a ruptured Achilles, but the polarising No. 10 was later granted a reprieve along with Darren Bent and Alan Hutton.

He failed to make the most of his second chance under Lambert, though, and later fell out of first-team contention in the months leading up to the Scot’s sacking after making 17 unproductive appearances over the first half of the season.

Tim Sherwood’s subsequent appointment saw him brought back into the fold for the run-in due to his experience of dealing with relegation scraps but, while the creative midfielder put in a few solid performances, his form proved far from stellar either.

With Sherwood now putting the finishing touches to his new squad during the closing stages of the summer transfer window, several fringe first-teamers are reported to be heading for an imminent departure, including Philippe Senderos, Aleksandar Tonev and N’Zogbia himself [h/t Birmingham Mail].

The former France international has failed to even make the bench for the first four games of the season and, speaking last week, Sherwood admitted that he had told certain members of the squad that they are surplus to requirements.

“The players know who they are and that’s the most important thing,” he said ahead of last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace during his pre-match press conference. “It’s not hard [to tell them] because every spell comes to an end. Sometimes you’re time’s up and you need to find a new club and get the best out of your career.

“There’s no point sitting around and not playing.”

N’Zogbia certainly faces the prospect of sitting around and not playing if he stays at Villa past the transfer deadline, but it remains to be seen whether he would willing to agree to a switch to the UAE at this point in his career.