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Aston Villa: It’s time to free Henri Lansbury of purgatory and loan him

By Josh Tonti

IPSWICH, ENGLAND - APRIL 21: Henri Lansbury of Aston Villa celebrates scoring the fourth goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Aston Villa at Portman Road on April 21, 2018 in Ipswich, England. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
IPSWICH, ENGLAND - APRIL 21: Henri Lansbury of Aston Villa celebrates scoring the fourth goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Ipswich Town and Aston Villa at Portman Road on April 21, 2018 in Ipswich, England. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images) /
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Aston Villa central midfielder Henri Lansbury is too talented to be continually left out of Steve Bruce’s matchday squads. With quality, healthy players ahead of him, it’s time to let Lansbury leave on-loan.

Henri Lansbury has been a no-show in all of Aston Villa’s squads this season, save for opening day at Hull City. Lansbury, an unused substitute for the match, also missed the Carabao Cup first-round victory due to the birth of his child.

With nothing more than cup matches to feature in, and even then, his starting place isn’t assured, it’s difficult to envision Lansbury racking-up ten first-team appearances. It’s time for Villa to free him of this idle state and let him leave on a temporary basis.

Lansbury, a £3 million signing in Jan. 2017, became one of Steve Bruce’s first arrivals while in charge at Aston Villa. Lansbury went on to feature 18 times in the Championship from January to May 2018. While he never showed his scoring touch from midfield that he conveyed at Nottingham Forest, he was largely decent in a mobile, two-way midfield role. He played everywhere from No. 10 to No. 6 and everything in between.

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The next season saw Lansbury dip even further down the pecking order after Jack Grealish’s stardom, Josh Onomah’s presence, and Glenn Whelan’s arrival.

Lansbury made just ten appearances last term, scoring once.

At 27 and in the prime of his career, Villa must let him leave on loan, granted all of the club’s midfielders stay healthy from now until next week. Grealish and John McGinn are automatic starters, while Conor Hourihane is a clear third-choice. Birkir Bjarnason and Glenn Whelan occupy the No. 6 role with Mile Jedinak in reserve too.

Unless Bruce is bent on Lansbury starting all cup matches (definitely a possibility), 19-year old Jake Doyle-Hayes can get extended looks in the team as well.

With a deal that runs through 2021, Villa do themselves no favors in excluding Lansbury week in and week out. He’s too good as a 5th/6th/7th choice centre-mid. There remain several mid-table Championship sides that could benefit from Lansbury’s arrival.

It couldn’t hurt if said clubs knock a point or two off promotion rivals, right?

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