By Alex McLeish

9th Oct, 2020 | 8:00pm

'Agents Tearing their hair out' - Exclusive: McLeish reacts as Aston Villa duo seek exits

Alex McLeish has claimed that the agents of Aston Villa duo Anwar El Ghazi and Frederic Guilbert will be “tearing their hair out”. 

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider editor Russell Edge, the former Villa boss suggested that there is “nothing worse” for a professional player than knowing that he is stuck at a club where he has no future.

As revealed by Football Insider, Dean Smith’s men are keen to offload the pair before the domestic transfer window shuts on October 16th.

Villa are also eager to ship out Henri Lansbury, with the club willing to listen to offers for the 29-year-old as they look to cut big-earning fringe talents from their wage bill.

But McLeish believes that getting rid of players now that the international transfer deadline has passed will be difficult.

Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “It’s not easy to get players out.

“The agents will be be tearing their hair out. I have some friends who are agents, and when they can’t get a player out, he sometimes blames the agent.

“In certain situations, it’s really impossible, and at certain moments in the season it can be even worse – especially when you have a deadline.

“No matter what, I’m sure that the agents are doing their best to get these players relocated, because there’s nothing worse for a professional who has been used to playing every single week than being out of the team.”

Neither El Ghazi or Guilbert has featured in the Premier League for Aston Villa so far this season, although the former was on the bench against Sheffield United and Liverpool.

Last season the ex-Ajax man featured in 34 top flight matches for Dean Smith’s side, starting 26 of those games. Guilbert made 25 Premier League appearances, starting 22 times.

In other news, Frank McAvennie is in awe of Aston Villa player he heard was going to join West Ham.