After arriving for a reported £7m from Belgian side Gent, it's fair to say Lovre Kalinic hasn't enjoyed the best of times at Aston Villa.

The goalkeeper has played just eight times for the first-team at Villa Park, and his playing time under Dean Smith doesn't look set to get any better anytime soon, what with Emiliano Martinez's arrival from Arsenal in the summer.

The Argentine has been Smith's undisputed number one thus far, and Kalinic's route back into the team - especially with a returning Tom Heaton on the horizon - looks difficult at best.

With his reported £50k-a-week wages, the Croatia international has actually cost Villa around £12m in total, in the 100 weeks that he has been at the club.

That's an awful lot of money for a player who barely features, even despite Smith calling him "outstanding" when the move went through a couple of years ago.

Villa owner Nassef Sawiris must surely be fuming at just how much of a drain on resources Kalinic has become, and it was quite telling that earlier in the year, reports suggested the club were still absolutely intent on selling him despite the major injury to Heaton.

Kalinic is so far down the pecking order at Villa that it makes no sense for the club to keep him anymore, and trying to find a buyer for him in January is surely the best route to go down.

If the Croatian remains at the club for any longer than that, then Sawiris will have some choice words for those responsible for conducting Villa's transfer business.