{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Cost £500k a game: Three Aston Villa midfielders that must leave after Whelan capture
COMMENT By Will Butcher
Steve Bruce must offload three of his Aston Villa central midfielders in the coming weeks after completing the signing of Stoke City ace Glenn Whelan on Thursday.
Aston Villa confirmed on their official website that the Premier League veteran had decided to take a step down and join the Midlands giants in their promotion assault on the Championship.
Villa already had an abundance of central midfielders available to them before the signing of Whelan, and Bruce now needs to make a decision on a number of his senior stars.
Football Insider considers which three midfielders need to leave the club in the near future in order to make room for Ireland international Whelan in the middle of the park.
Here are those three players, including a midfielder that has cost the club a princely £500,000 a game: