When Unai Emery arrived at Aston Villa back in October 2022, it quickly became clear that certain players brought in by the previous regime wouldn't have a future with the Midlands club.

One such example is Leander Dendoncker and after some woeful performances following his summer arrival from Wolves, Emery should look to get rid of the Belgium international for good at the end of the season.

Should Aston Villa get rid of Leander Dendoncker?

Steven Gerrard signed Dendoncker from Wolves on deadline day last summer in a deal worth £13m, with the defensive-midfielder perhaps expected to be the replacement for Douglas Luiz.

However, the Brazilian would later sign a contract extension at Villa Park, and considering fellow summer addition Boubacar Kamara has also established himself as a regular, Dendoncker quickly became surplus to requirements.

Since signing, the 27-year-old has managed just 14 appearances in all competitions for Villa, including just three starts in the Premier League.

It is easy to see why Emery has preferred other options in the middle of the park in his tenure at Villa Park as Dendoncker has averaged a shocking 6.26 rating from WhoScored for his performances in the Premier League.

This ranks him as the 20th-best performer so far this campaign, so it would certainly not be a surprise to see him moved on by Emery in the summer, which shows that the dud has struggled badly.

He has been a disastrous signing by Gerrard and the new Villa boss is unlikely to have been impressed with the Belgian international since taking over due to his antics in the FA Cup in January.

The former Anderlecht man has been limited to just one start since the World Cup break, which came in the embarrassing 2-1 home defeat by League Two side Stevenage, when his red card late on turned the game in the away side's favour, with his tackle later criticised by Nedum Onouha.

He said: "Dendoncker tried to turn when somebody was on him and got the punishment that he deserved for the indecision. It's rash and I think the red card is the right decision. You shouldn't lose a match from being in a position of control 10 minutes ago.”

The defensive midfielder was once a reliable option for Wolves in the Premier League, averaging a strong 6.97 rating in the 2018/19 campaign, but he has managed above a 7/10 rating in just one of his appearances for Villa this season, which came in the 4-0 win over Brentford following Gerrard's sacking.

Therefore, he hasn't impressed once under Emery and the Spaniard should look to get rid permanently in the summer, as his time at Villa Park has been something of a disaster due to his woeful performances - as proven by his aforementioned WhoScored ratings - this season.