On August 31st, Aston Villa let Leander Dendoncker join Anderlecht on a loan deal with an option to buy.
The midfielder was restricted to a limited role since Unai Emery took charge at Aston Villa in November 2022. To put it in context, he clocked in less than 1,000 minutes from 30 games for the Villans under the Spaniard’s orders.
Dendoncker spent the second half of last season on loan at Napoli. Upon his return to Villa Park, he wanted to fight for a place at Aston Villa. Therefore, he didn’t entertain the Belgian club when they first made an approach for him earlier in the summer window.
This has now been revealed by the player himself during an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, relayed by Voetbal Krant.
“We already had a conversation at the start of the transfer window. Anderlecht already wanted me to join then. I was open to it, but decided to wait a bit longer,” he said.
“I wanted to review my options. At that time, I was still fighting for my place at Aston Villa. Unai Emery took me to pre-season to the United States. But it gradually became clear that my playing opportunities would be scarce.”
Anderlecht were still interested in the Aston Villa owned player and he was able to return to the Jupiler Pro League side. The Belgium international was at the club for a decade between 2009 and 2019, of which six years were with their first team.
“Anderlecht were still interested. Jesper Fredberg and Brian Riemer immediately made it clear that my profile was much needed for Anderlecht. Then I didn’t hesitate for a moment,” Dendoncker explained.
The Belgian has made one appearance since returning to Anderlecht on a loan deal.
