Aston Villa central midfielder Morgan Sanson is "very close to leaving" the club this summer, according to manager Unai Emery.
When did Morgan Sanson join Aston Villa?
The Frenchman first arrived in the Premier League and indeed the Midlands back in 2021 from Marseille but he most recently spent the second-half of last season out on loan at Strasbourg having temporarily moved there at the start of the new year.
Prior to his departure, the 28-year-old was handed zero starts and made just two subsitute appearances in the top-flight, via WhoScored, so sending him out to receive more regular game time elsewhere was definitely the right decision at the time, despite his contract not expiring for another two years.
Back in April, Football Insider's Wayne Veysey reported that NSWE are willing to accept a cut-price offer for the player during the ongoing window as a result of him being surplus to requirements, not to mention that it's directly stated that he's failed to win over Emery.
Is Morgan Sanson leaving Aston Villa?
During his post-match interview following the Summer Series 3-3 draw with Newcastle United, Emery publicly revealed that Sanson is expected to finalise an imminent departure from the club whilst detailing the reasons for the game's other absentees. As quoted by Talk Villa on Twitter, he said:
"Sanson is very close to leaving. Coutinho trained this morning alone & he'll train [with the] group and be ready for the next matches. Dendoncker is still in Birmingham because he had a baby [so] stayed there for this reason."
Is Emery right to get rid of Morgan Sanson?
Back when Dean Smith was in charge at Aston Villa, he described Sanson's consistent injury setbacks as extremely "frustrating", but even when he's since had the chance to prove what he's capable of, he's failed to make a positive impression so it would be absolutely the correct decision to sanction his sale.
The Gol International client has scored just one senior goal since joining the club two years ago and last season was ranked as Emery's 22nd overall best-performing player out of 23 squad members, registering a match rating of just 6.06, via WhoScored, highlighting how little he contributes to the side.
The Saint-Doulchard native, who's sponsored by Puma, also currently pockets £45k-per-week which is more than the likes of Alex Moreno, as per Capology, and that's an awfully high salary for a fringe player, so by getting him off the wage book the board would be able to use these funds to put towards securing upgraded signings in the coming weeks.
Should Sanson secure his exit, Villa and Emery won't really notice the difference of him no longer being in the building and the boss has already seemed to make it clear that he doesn't view him as part of his long-term plans moving forward. It makes perfect sense for him to start getting rid of the deadwood in the dressing room to create space for any potential new recruits that could be walking through the doors.