Aston Villa were busy on deadline day, and it looks as if something that went under the radar was another exit that failed to materialise.
Aston Villa’s January window
NSWE and Monchi left the majority of their January business until the final day after right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic arrived earlier in the month before heading back to Red Star Belgrade on loan for the remainder of the season.
Morgan Rogers was the marquee deadline day signing at Villa Park, joining from Middlesbrough, whereas goalkeeper Joe Gauci arrived from Adelaide United and teenager Lino Sousa from Arsenal. A deal was also agreed to sign 16-year-old midfielder Keilan Quinn from rivals West Brom.
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ByLuke Randall
Sousa then headed out on loan to the Championship with Plymouth Argyle, whereas Bertrand Traore also sealed a late permanent exit to Villarreal. However, if Villa and Unai Emery had their way, there would have been another late exit in the Midlands, but it looks as if the player put his foot down and decided not to go.
Aston Villa wanted Calum Chambers exit
According to Football Insider in the final hours of the January window, Aston Villa wanted to offload Calum Chambers and even received three offers for his services. However, the player turned down all three sides in the Championship even though Villa were pushing behind the scenes for an exit and as we know, Chambers remained at Villa Park past te 11pm deadline.
"Aston Villa want to offload defender Calum Chambers before Thursday’s transfer deadline but he has rejected three offers to leave, sources have told Football Insider. Villa are pushing behind the scenes to complete a deal for the 29-year-old, but he is reluctant to leave the club.
"It is understood that three Championship clubs have all submitted offers for the Villa defender but Chambers has rejected all approaches."
Fabrizio Romano labelled Chambers a “top secret” signing from Arsenal back in 2022 and backed the defender to be a success at Villa Park, saying:
“Chambers is a very good signing, in my opinion. It was a top-secret signing like Danny Ings, so they’re very, very good and congrats to Aston Villa. Congrats, because all the players [Villa signed], we can say they are loving to work with Steven Gerrard. So the atmosphere is really beautiful and when it happens in football, it is always amazing.”
However, as we know, things haven’t worked out for the £50,000-a-week defender, with Chambers making just 31 appearances in all competitions for his current employers. Emery has used him on just three occasions during the current campaign, all of which have been in the Europa Conference League.
Therefore, you could argue that it is a surprise that the 29-year-old didn’t want to leave in the final hours of the window in search of regular game time. Should Chambers continue to warm the bench, then you’d expect Villa will explore a sale for the player in the summer, with the versatile defender’s contract up a year later in 2025.
