Versatile Aston Villa man completes temporary exit

Aston Villa have let Leander Dendoncker head out the exit door on loan to join Napoli, as announced by their official club website.

The Belgium international, who has 32 caps under his belt for his country to date, may well have played his last game for Unai Emery's side.

Dendoncker, 28, joined Aston Villa back in 2022 and has since made 36 appearances in all competitions for the Midlands outfit, 15 of which have come this season, and chipped in with a single goal which came away at Manchester United earlier this winter.

He is a useful player to have in and around the squad due to the fact he can play in either midfield or defence. However, he isn't guaranteed a regular starting spot and this loan move gives him a chance to get more game time under his belt.

Cutting ties with Dendoncker also frees up space and funds in Aston Villa's squad to potentially bring in reinforcements before the end of the transfer window next week. It has been a fairly quiet window for Emery so far this month.

Prior to his move to Aston Villa, he was on the books at Wolves and played 159 times for the Molineux club, chipping in with 12 goals. He rose up through the academy ranks at Anderlecht before breaking into their first-team.

Dendoncker has now linked up with the current Serie A champions. However, they have struggled this term and find themselves sat down in 9th place.