Report: Aston Villa won’t sell seldom-seen player, but he’ll leave for free in 2021

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Henri Lansbury will stay at Aston Villa this season before leaving the Premier League club on a free transfer when his contract expires in the summer of 2021, according to the Birmingham Mail.

A seldom-seen midfielder who moved to the Midlands almost four years ago from Nottingham Forest, Lansbury offered a reminder of his natural-born abilities with a Man of the Match performance in the 3-0 Carabao Cup thrashing of Burton Albion last week.

But, with Ross Barkley arriving at Villa Park and pushing him further down the pecking order, the 29-year-old looks set to be restricted to midweek cup clashes for the remainder of 2020/21.

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According to the Birmingham Mail, Lansbury will not be going anywhere before Monday’s transfer deadline.

The ex-Arsenal youngster may be stuck behind Jack Grealish, Conor Hourihane, Douglas Luiz and now Barkley in Dean Smith’s plans, but Villa are keen to ensure they are not short of depth or back-up options with a gruelling fixture schedule likely to stretch their squad to its limit.

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Lansbury started just two Premier League games last season and was left out of the squad for Villa’s well-deserved wins over Sheffield United and Fulham this month.

Anwar El-Ghazi was also watching on from the stands at Craven Cottage and, despite links with Olympiakos, the Birmingham Mail believe he will stay, as a £20.5 million move for Werder Bremen forward Milot Rashica hits the buffers.

Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images

In other news, Exclusive: Emile Heskey gives verdict on Ross Barkley to Aston Villa