Express & Star

Aston Villa midfielder heading for exit with Napoli loan move lined up

Leander Dendoncker is nearing a Villa exit with the midfielder poised to join Napoli on loan.

Published

Dendoncker is expected to travel to Italy on Tuesday night ahead of completing a deal which includes an option to buy of around £8.5million.

The Belgium international has started just eight Premier League matches since joining Villa from Wolves for £13million in September 2022, though his departure does reduce the amount of midfield cover available to boss Unai Emery.

The club are likely to seek a replacement during what could now be a busy closing week of the transfer window.

Villa are experiencing solid resistance in their efforts to sign Morgan Rogers from Middlesbrough.

Two bids for the forward have already been turned down with the Championship club so far refusing to budge on their valuation of the 21-year-old, thought to be around £10million.

Villa rebuffed an offer from West Ham for striker Jhon Duran in part due to the difficulty of recruiting attacking players during the January window.

The Hammers wanted to take the Colombia international on a loan deal with an option to buy but Villa are wary of being left short in a busy second half of the season.

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