Reports have surfaced this evening, out of nowhere that Leander Dendoncker could be on the verge of signing for Serie A champions Napoli.
The news first broke through David Ornstein of the Athletic around 5 pm this evening.
It is believed that the Belgian will join on an initial loan deal until the summer with the Italians having the option to buy him for around £7.75 million.
Dendoncker signed for Villa from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022 and despite playing 20 games in his debut season, has struggled for regular game time since – especially since the arrival of Unai Emery.
It is believed that the 28-year-old earns around £85,000 per week and has a contract until 2026 at Villa Park.
It is thought that Dendoncker’s preferred option was to return to Wolves but it now looks likely he will move to Italy.
Although the deal is yet to be confirmed, it does appear it will be a matter of time as Fabrizio Romano tweeted a little while ago that the deal was complete pending a successful medical on Wednesday.
It will be interesting to see which direction Villa go to bridge the gap in our midfield with Florian Neuhaus of Borussia Mönchengladbach the latest name doing the rounds.