Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Brandt could be on his way to the Premier League and Aston Villa in the summer.
That’s according to Monday’s edition of Bild, who look at the Aston Villa option for the 29-year-old.
The Germany international has less than six months left on his contract. At the weekend, BVB confirmed via their official website that he will leave as a free agent after this season.
After the last league win over 1. FC Köln, Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl confirmed Brandt’s summer move.
“I sat down with Jule. We discussed things and will be going our separate ways starting this summer. This can be an opportunity for both of us. There’s still a great deal of mutual respect,” he said.
“I think it wasn’t easy for either of them because we worked together for a long time with mutual trust and achieved a lot. He always stood his ground. Nevertheless, at a certain point you have to make decisions. They both decided this was the right decision for themselves.”
Why Brandt decided to leave
Bild relay Kehl’s comments and provide the latest on Aston Villa as a potential destination for the player.
Brandt has played 1,803 minutes from 32 matches in all competitions this season, which includes 13 league starts, managing 10 goals and three assists.
The newspaper claim he’s been concerned with his role under Niko Kovač and is also not pleased that he has ‘become the face of BVB’s crises’.
He’s one of the top earners at the club, collecting €8m per year. His high salary is another factor that has convinced Borussia Dortmund to not renew his contract.
German could move to Aston Villa
Earlier in the season, claims from the UK stated Unai Emery’s side will consider signing the 29-year-old in the winter market. However, Sport Witness had covered a German report dismissing these claims.
That doesn’t mean Aston Villa are not keen or the attacking midfielder can’t move to Villa Park in the summer.
Bild now claim the English club are under discussion as his next possible destination. It’s to be noted no other club apart from Aston Villa is mentioned in the report.
Value and agent situation
Transfermarkt now values Brandt at €20m, and he had his highest value of €50m in 2019. He will now be available as a free agent in the next window.
Therefore, the transfer to get him as a free agent has an attraction. The midfielder doesn’t have an official agent and is instead represented by relatives.
That may make things easier for Aston Villa when it comes to negotiating an agent fee. Such costs are often very high when associated with high profile free agents.
