Aston Villa should consider sanctioning the sale of Anwar El Ghazi in the January transfer window.

What's been said?

That's according to Ex-Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, who, in a recent interview with Football Insider, called for Aston Villa director of football Johan Lange to cash in on the 26-year-old this winter, following recent reports that Villa would be willing to accept an £18m offer for the winger amid interest from AS Roma.

Speaking about the future of El Ghazi, Kenny said: "He's not been in their plans for a while now, so I don't think this would be a bad move at all. If it frees money and wages up to maybe bring someone in January in, get it done.

"They've got a lot of really good attacking players now. Unfortunately, that means that they are going to have to have a bit of a clearout. If he is interested in that move and is ready to move to Italy, then it makes sense for both parties to go for it."

Stealing a living

After enjoying an impressive debut campaign at Villa Park on a season-long loan deal from LOSC Lille back in 2018/19 - scoring five goals and registering six assists over 31 Championship appearances - a move which Villa would spend £8.1m to make permanent in the summer of 2019, the future appeared to be bright for El Ghazi under the guidance of Dean Smith.

Indeed, after another decent season in 2019/20, with the £11.7m-rated man scoring four goals, providing four assists and creating for big chances over 34 Premier League appearances, the Netherlands international went on to score a highly impressive ten goals over just 28 top-flight fixtures last term - finishing as the club's second-highest goalscorer in the league.

However, following the £100m sale of Jack Grealish this summer, Lange brought in a wealth of new attacking talent to Villa Park, landing the signings of players such as Emiliano Buendia, Leon Bailey and Danny Ings.

As a result, the £38k-per-week El Ghazi has fallen down Smith's pecking order, making just four Premier League appearances so far this season, as well as averaging a disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.63.

As such, while it is undeniable that the man who The Villa View Podcast dubbed an "inconsistent" player has been a useful part of Smith's squad over the years, considering his rather hefty weekly wage, the club should not allow the 26-year-old to simply sit on the bench for the remainder of the season.

That leads us to agree with Kenny's claim that Lange should move the winger on in January - with it beginning to appear as if El Ghazi is somewhat stealing a living at present.

In other news: Aston Villa dealt potential blow on "exemplary" £5.2k-p/w beast, Johan Lange must act