Johan Lange has been dealt a cruel blow in his efforts to sign Milot Rashica with Werder Bremen confirming the Aston Villa target is not for sale in January.

What’s the word?

Speaking with Bild, Werder Sporting Director Frank Baumann has stated that Rashica will be staying at the Weser Stadium as he will block any attempts to sign one of his side’s players this winter.

Aston Villa were believed to be monitoring Rashica’s situation in Germany to see if he can rediscover his form from last term, which saw the Birmingham-based outfit rival West Ham, Brighton and Wolverhampton Wanderers for the former Liverpool target.

Rashica struck 11 goals and was credited with a further eight assists in 34 games across all competitions in 2019/20, and admitted he would have loved the chance to play in the Premier League if Bremen reached an agreement with one of his interested suitors.

But Werder held firm in demanding that his €38million (£34.4m) release clause was met in full, due to clauses inserted in his arrival from Vitesse Arnheim that would have seen the Dutch side, the forward and his agent each net a per cent of the fee received.

The 24-year-old has failed to replicate his form from last season thus far this term, with the 28-cap Kosovo sensation dubbed ‘The Rocket’ only penning his first assist of the campaign during last Friday’s 5-3 loss to VfL Wolfsburg and is yet to score in any of his five Bundesliga outings.

Rashica was given an extended break this summer after being left “disappointed” at a transfer failing to materialise, while an early-season knee injury prevented his season debut until the fourth fixture of the German league campaign.

Take Villa to another level

Baumann stating that Bremen will reject all offers for Rashica in the winter market will come as a cruel blow for his Aston Villa counterpart Lange, who could have taken Dean Smith’s side to another level with the capture of the 24-year-old.

Villa were expected to move for Rashica’s services in January if he can rediscover his form this month, having begun to find his feet again with three straight Bundesliga starts and an influential role in defeat to Wolfsburg.

Lange striking a deal for the Kosovo international would have added a player lauded highly by Bremen head coach Florian Kohfeldt as a unique talent through his ability to decide games on his own.

“He is a player who can decide Bundesliga games,” Kohfeldt told Tagesspiegel, via quotes by Goal this summer. “You don’t find that very often. Milot has incredible skills: in speed, in goalscoring, in passing. Rashica would fit well in England with his pace, but also with his style of play in Spain.”

Smith will seemingly not be gifted the chance to work with a talent like Rashica, at least until the summer, and will instead have to hope the likes of Trezeguet, Bertrand Traore and Anwar El Ghazi can help take some of the strain off Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley with the trio yet to score and boasting just two assists between them.

AND in other news, a major Premier League decision has come at the ideal time for an “outstanding” Villa titan who’s badly letting Dean Smith down.