Aston Villa backed to hit back at 'bullying' and sell Carney Chukwuemeka after latest - Agbonlahor
Aston Villa may sell Carney Chukwuemeka this summer as they will not be "bullied" into giving him a new contract.
That is the view of Aston Villa's record Premier League goalscorer Gabby Agbonlahor, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the midfielder's situation.
The 18-year-old is set to enter the final 12 months of his current deal.
The Athletic reported on Monday (20 June) that the Midlands giants want to tie him down to a new contract.
"It’s a difficult situation for Aston Villa and it’s come harder and harder with agents and stuff," Agbonlahor told Football Insider's Connor Whitley.
"It might be a situation where Aston Villa have to say ‘We’re going to let you go because we’re not going to be bullied into giving you money which you don’t deserve yet’.
"When I was 19 and got into the first-team, Martin O’Neill said ‘Ok, here’s £10,000-a-week’ then in the contract was if you had 35 starts, there was a renegotiation straight away.
"After a year, I got it and I got a new contract. After a year, that contract was ripped up and I got a new one. I was getting a new contract every year or two because I was hitting the amount of starts I needed.
"That’s maybe what they are doing with young players but maybe Chukwuemeka is thinking ‘Am I going to get those starts?’
"There are a lot of competition for the position he plays in. It’s a difficult situation but I’m sure Aston Villa won’t be bullied.
"Even if he signs a new contract, Steven Gerrard is going to play his best team to get results. He’s not going to play Chukwuemeka just because he wants to give him starts for a new contract.
"If you look at Aston Villa, Chukwuemeka doesn’t go into that starting XI, you’ve got to earn that like Jacob Ramsey did.
"Sometimes you’ve got to back yourself to get into the first team and stay in it."