Exclusive: Aston Villa £40K-a-wk star set to leave, permanent move possible
Aston Villa star Henri Lansbury is set to leave before next week's transfer window closes, Football Insider understands.
The Midlands giants are keen to get the attacking midfielder, 29, off their wage bill after he dropped out of the first-team reckoning.
A Villa source has told Football Insider that the club are listening to offers for Lansbury ahead of his contract expiring next summer.
He is on around £40,000-a-week, which makes it difficult to entice permanent buyers for the fringe figure.
A full-time move is possible but a loan move to a Championship club is the most likely option amid interest from teams in the division.
The domestic window is open for trading only between Premier League and EFL clubs until Friday, 16 October.
Lansbury has been sidelined during Dean Smith's two years in charge and has started just two Premier League matches in the last 14 months.
He has not made a single matchday squad this season and his only outings have come when Smith fielded a weakened side in the League Cup.
Three starts in the competition have taken Lansbury's appearances total for Villa to 53 since he joined from Nottingham Forest in January 2017.
Smith has completely overhauled the Villa squad for a second consecutive summer and that has ended Lansbury's hopes of league action.
The star additions of Matty Cash, Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martinez, Bertrand Traore and on-loan Ross Barkley mean it is unlikely the Arsenal academy product will get much game time if he stays.