With the season nearing it’s closure there will inevitably be a few players who leave the club on a free transfer. But, just exactly who will be leaving Aston Villa at the end of this season? Well currently 6 players contracts are running out on June 30th, those players are: Ron Vlaar, Darren Bent, Chris Herd, Enda Stevens, Lewis Kinsella, Graham Burke.
Darren Bent, Chris Herd and Enda Stevens will most definitely leave the club. Either of the trio have featured much in the past few seasons and have just become a burden on our Aston Villa wage bill. This particularly applies to Darren Bent who is earning around £60,000-65,000 a week. Bent had saved Villa from relegation in his first two seasons at the club, but under Lambert he clearly wasn’t rated. Herd has had his share of injuries and it doesn’t look like he has passed that. While Stevens was a failed experiment and signing on behalf of Alex McLeish.
It’s still a mystery as to what will happen to Ron Vlaar, but I think his injury record will impact any potential new contract. There is also a good chance that Vlaar would fancy a new challenge, especially as he has reached the age of 30. Kinsella and Burke are interesting cases because they are both youth players. Kinsella has been on the bench on a couple of match-day squads under Sherwood, which may increase his chances of getting a contract renewal. Burke was NextGen joint top scorer in 2012-13, but at the age of 21 he hasn’t featured at all at Villa and struggled to make an impact at Shrewsbury Town.
Scott Sinclair and Tom Cleverly’s loan deals are also expiring very soon. It appears as though Sinclair will be keen to stay at Villa and I’m sure that a large majority of fans would also welcome that decision. Sinclair has netted 3 goals for Villa so far. Additionally, a permanent fee had also been agreed with Man.City prior to his loan move to Villa. Cleverly is an interesting case, under Lambert it was quite clear that he didn’t want to remain at Villa beyond this season. Under Sherwood, Cleverly is playing better than ever and in his recent interviews, seems as lot more motivated and content with being at Aston Villa. There might be competition for Cleverly’s signature, since his contract will run out with United at the end of the season. But I’d say there is a 50% chance of Cleverly remaining with Villa.
Pre-Sherwood, Cleverly was a no no. Now he’s looking like a different player so may be worth keeping…
Vlaar’s injury record must count against him at a one-squad side. He might find a role in the #2 team at a club with European competition enabling them to fund 2 squads.
I agree Cleverley has upped his game under Sherwood, but is he the type of midfielder we need? No is my answer, with a less than prolific attack Villa need midfielders who can score goals, and Cleverley isn’t one of those.
Let’s see what happens with our owner. If we get a new owner who is willing to spend, than I agree with you. We could get a better central midfielder, but if Lerner stays or the cash doesn’t flow. Cleverly wouldn’t be the worst addition
I agree that Cleverly has played better under Sherwood, but still think there are much better players out there. Sinclair would be a good addition.
Burke and Kinsella out on loan to Notts County and Luton Town respectively.
As for contracts, I can’t see any more renewals for Bent, Herd, Stevens or Vlaar. I do think it’ll be interesting to see what happens to the players out on loan Lambert bought and then loaned out, like Helenius, Luna, Tonev etc.