Henri Lansbury turned down offer to settle Aston Villa contract
Forgotten man Henri Lansbury turned down an offer to have his Villa contract terminated early, it has emerged.
The 30-year-old cannot play until January at the earliest after being left out of the club’s 25-man Premier League squad last week.
Lansbury, who has started just 35 matches since joining in a £3million move from Nottingham Forest, had fallen further down the pecking order after the arrival of Ross Barkley on loan from Chelsea.
With his first-team chances limited and his contract set to expire next summer, talks took place over a settlement which would have seen Villa pay a portion of the money still owed on his £40,000-a-week deal.
But no agreement could be reached, meaning Lansbury will remain training at Bodymoor Heath until the January transfer window, when the club will again try to move him off the books.
Villa struggled to find suitors for a number of players deemed surplus to requirements during the recent window, with the continued financial impact of the pandemic meaning many clubs were working with restricted budgets.
Settlements were reached with goalkeeper Orjan Nyland and forward Jota which allowed both to leave as free agents with their contracts ended early. Jota subsequently joined Spanish club Alaves, while Norway international Nyland has been linked with a move to the Netherlands.
Full-back Frederic Guilbert remained at Villa after Nantes failed to follow up an initial interest, while there was also no move for goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic.
The latter, who has made only eight appearances since joining in a £7million move from Gent in January 2019, is fourth-choice keeper following Tom Heaton’s return to training.
Unlike Lansbury both he and Guilbert – who finds himself behind Ahmed Elmohamady and new boy Matty Cash in the pecking order – were included in Villa’s 25-man Premier League squad.
Lansbury’s time at Villa has been blighted by inconsistent form and misfortune with injuries.
After making 10 top flight appearances last term, of which only two were starts, his outing’s this season had been restricted to the club’s Carabao Cup campaign, which ended with a 1-0 fourth round defeat to Stoke.
“Henri has been unfortunate with injuries and players’ form ahead of him in his position,” said boss Dean Smith last week.
“He was looking for a club in the window and, unfortunately, nothing happened. We just felt there’s too many players in front of him at the moment.”
n Villa under-18s saw their perfect start to the season halted as they were beaten 3-0 by Fulham.
Head coach Sean Verity’s team had won their opening five fixtures of the Premier League South season but were well beaten by the Cottagers.
