From France: Last minute change in Aston Villa transfer, deal still going through

After many weeks of negotiations, of ‘maybes’ and ‘perhapses’, Jordan Veretout looks set to be a Saint-Etienne player next season.

This morning, we covered L’Equipe’s article on the matter, with both Saint-Etienne manager and sporting coordinator confirming it.

The Aston Villa midfielder seems to want to get as far as possible from the Championship club as possible for the coming season, and a return to Ligue 1 is all but done.

However, it appears the player will eventually return to Aston Villa once the loan comes to an end next June as the Midlands club pulled the plug on the buyout clause originally installed in the deal.

According to FootMercato reporter Manu Lonjon, the deal is a simple loan and Aston Villa made the last minute change despite the original clause being negotiated.

D’apres mes infos, finalement, Veretout devrait bien arriver SANS option d achat à Sainté ! … Mea Culpa…

— Manu LONJON (@ManuLonjon) August 22, 2016

@katara420 de ce que je sais, c est plus Villa qui aurait au final refusé l option d achat – qui avait pourtant été négociée..

— Manu LONJON (@ManuLonjon) August 22, 2016

It seems Aston Villa are preparing for automatic promotion, as they should, really, and they want Veretout once they get back in the Premier League.