Leander Dendoncker - on loan to Anderlecht

[brontebilly]

Another great Purslow/Gerrard coup.

Doubt Gerrard had much to do with it, he was on borrowed time by then and looked like Luiz was gone. Kamara hadn't settled either and we were getting bullied in midfield most games in that horrid 433. Gerrard did from memory not allow the Sarr signing to go through around then.

In a matter of weeks, Emery had shifted Luiz next to Kamara with McGinn and Ramsey on the sides. Coutinho, Ings and Donk gone. Simple but effective.

[Percy McCarthy]

Jesus Christ, that 4-3-3. McGinn and Ramsay playing as auxiliary full-backs, filling in for Cash and Digne going forward. Kamara alone in the vast expanse of the midfield.

[PeterWithesShin]

He's been disappointing, but at 27 when he signed I expected him to be fairly useful as a squad player. He's one of those players that seemed to age very quickly and now plays like he's years older than he is.

[paul_e]

He's been disappointing, but at 27 when he signed I expected him to be fairly useful as a squad player. He's one of those players that seemed to age very quickly and now plays like he's years older than he is.

Yep, I had him as a good option to cover Kamara and at CB but he's just never looked mobile enough to be a premier league player for me.

[VILLA MOLE]

Jesus Christ, that 4-3-3. McGinn and Ramsay playing as auxiliary full-backs, filling in for Cash and Digne going forward. Kamara alone in the vast expanse of the midfield.

but they all looked the manager in the eye , man to man naked from the waste

[Smithy]

He's been disappointing, but at 27 when he signed I expected him to be fairly useful as a squad player. He's one of those players that seemed to age very quickly and now plays like he's years older than he is.

He was a perfectly acceptable signing for the sort of position we were in when he signed.  Just finished 14th in the premier league, he was 27, a Belgian international.  Wages were a bit high, but not "dangerously" so.  If we'd been a club with aspirations for "top half" finishes, he'd probably have played quite a lot over the last few years, but the reality is our transformation under Unai was so significant, and SO rapid, that he was just left behind.  Some players were capable of taking their game to the next level under Unai, Donk was not (my guess, as others have suggested, is that it's his lack of mobility that prevents Unai wanting him in the squad).  Not his fault, and I don't blame him for not moving for less money.

It's unlikely anyone will touch him while he's still on £90k a week with us, but if we came to an agreement to release him from his final year, I imagine he'd have his pick of a dozen or more top flight clubs across Europe - each of which would happily pay him the 20-30k a week he's probably worth these days.  I dare say he could also do a job for a newly promoted side to, one that is going to be playing with the backs to the wall a lot, and isn't going to be too expansive or dynamic on the break - but none of them is going to pay any serious cash for him.

[sid1964]

It must be a worry for him if no other club is showing an interest in signing him - where does he go after his Villa career is finished

[algy]

It must be a worry for him if no other club is showing an interest in signing him - where does he go after his Villa career is finished

I imagine it’s because he will likely be paid the same amount for this last season at Villa as he will for the rest of his remaining career. It’s understandable that he’d be looking for wages that would reflect that he’s giving that up, and also perfectly understandable that there aren’t any clubs that can both afford those wages and see him as worth buying.

I’d guess we’ll likely give him a lump sum that’s enough that it’ll cover the difference between what we’re paying him, and what he can get elsewhere.