Nottingham Forest
SOURCES:A £13 million transfer to Italian giants is about to be finalized.
Aston Villa midfielder Leander Dendoncker is now on the verge of joining Napoli after the Midlands side accepted an offer from Napoli, HITC Football understands.
After completing a move to Villa Park in the summer of 2022 for £13 million, things have not worked out for Belgian midfielder Leander Dendoncker since he signed on the dotted line for Aston Villa.
He has been a bench option for Unai Emery’s side this campaign and, as a result, a January move away from the club is now looking to be on the cards with Napoli seeing their offer for the Belgian accepted.
The Belgian midfielder, who had interest from the Premier League from both Burnley and Sheffield United, has accepted an offer to join the Italian giants on loan.
Details of deal
HITC Football also understands that Napoli do have the option to make the loan deal permanent but that clause included is not a mandatory one. It will most likely be based on how he does in Serie A, if he performs well, it’s likely that the Italian giants will make the deal permanent.
Napoli had previously shown an interest in Dendoncker’s fellow countryman Oriel Mangala at Nottingham Forest, although it now remains to be seen if they want both Belgians.
Mangala has looked promising since his move to Forest from VFB Stuttgart for £12 million last summer but it looks like Dendoncker will be the man Napoli opt for.
Dendoncker’s struggles
The 28-year-old has started one Premier League match this season, the 3-2 defeat at Manchester United when Boubacar Kamara was serving a ban.
Ironically, that defeat to the Red Devils was his first and only goal he netted for the Midlands club and now a move away from Villa Park is in the offing.
Formerly of Wolves and Anderlecht, the midfielder looked promising during his time in the Black Country but has struggled for consistency at Villa Park due to his inconsistent game time.
He has made a total of 36 appearances since joining Villa from Wolves during the 2022 summer transfer window. It’s unclear how much the option to purchase Dendoncker would be but his time at Villa Park is coming to an end.
