Aston Villa’s Birkir Bjarnason is a wanted man – but he wants to stay at Villa Park.
According to the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa midfielder Birkir Bjarnason has spoken to Steve Bruce in order to seek reassurances about his role at Villa Park.
Villa endured a difficult summer given their well-documented financial problems, but those fears have been allayed by the investment of Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
James Chester and Jack Grealish have been kept at Villa Park, but Villa are receiving interest in one player ahead of the Italian transfer deadline later this week.
Empoli are targeting midfielder Birkir Bjarnason, with Calciomercato reporting last week that the Serie A newcomers are looking to lure him back to Italian football.
Now, the Birmingham Mail report that Bjarnason is happy to stay at Villa Park, and has spoken to Bruce about staying at the club and his role with the club moving forward.
Bjarnason, 30, joined Villa from Basel in January 2017 having impressed for Iceland at Euro 2016, but has mostly been a bit-part player during his time at Villa Park.
The midfielder scored four times in 31 games in all competitions last season, and found the net during Villa’s 3-2 win over Wigan Athletic on Saturday afternoon.
Bruce would no doubt rather keep Bjarnason than attempt to replace him in the loan market, and the midfielder’s desire to stay at Villa Park should be a boost for the Villa boss.
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