Reported Aston Villa target Milot Rashica won’t be sold on the cheap despite his disappointing start to the Bundesliga season, Werder Bremen director Frank Baumann has told Kicker.
The question shouldn’t be one of price, however.
Instead, the focus should be on whether this quicksilver Kosovan has missed his chance to secure a big-money move away from the Weser Stadion.
Rashica was one of the most influential attackers in Germany’s top flight last season, saving 2004 champions Werder Bremen from relegation with eight goals and seven assists from his favoured attacking midfield role.
But while the former Vitesse Arnhem star flew out of the blocks in 2019, nothing could be further from the truth this time around.
Injuries have restricted Rashica to just 117 minutes of Bundesliga football and, so far, he has yet to produce a single goal or assist.
Aston Villa triggered the £20 million release clause in his contract in September, according to the Birmingham Mail, before backing out of a deal when they learned of Rashica’s £75,000-a-week wage demands.
And he will have to do something special between now and January if he wants to catch the eye of the Premier League’s surprise packages once more.
“We will not sell him below value,” Baumann explains, having already confirmed Villa’s interest in his explosive attacker.
“For Milot, it is all the more important he concentrates on the here and now, and I have the feeling that is exactly what he does. He was very committed against Koln – a 1-1 draw before the international break – even if not everything worked out for him.
“Milot has the quality to deal with the situation.”
In October, Sport BILD reported Rashica was expected to join Bayer Leverkusen in January – but the trail has grown cold.
On current form, he won’t have a hope of forcing Moussa Diaby or Leon Bailey out of Peter Bosz’s Leverkusen XI.
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