Despite the exit speculations that have been circulating about Tim Iroegbunam, Dan Bardell has been informed that Aston Villa intends to cling onto him for the remainder of the season.
Nevertheless, Bardell has since learned otherwise, saying he was “quite surprised” that Unai Emery chose not to use Iroegbunam in Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup victory against Middlesbrough. (6 January).
Bardell claimed, “I was told on Monday that Villa plans to keep him for the season,” in an exclusive interview with Villa News. In recent months, he has spent quite a bit of time on the bench. His lack of a starting spot in the Middlesbrough match surprised me a bit, considering he had a lot of Championship experience from his QPR loan the previous year.
Given that this guy was a member of the England U-19 team that won a significant international competition, it seemed like a game to give him a little taste of what he’s about and see if he could handle it. There is a skilled player present. I know a couple of people at QPR who thought he was a good player and adored him when he was there. Villa won’t likely sell him, but if they sign someone else, he might be able to move out on loan. However, rumors have it that he plans to stay put. Just some minutes against Boro would have been nice, because if you’re not getting minutes in the FA Cup, third round, it seems improbable that he’ll be called up for a league contest. In unrelated Aston Villa news, a broadcaster is pushing Emery to pay £10.7 million this month to sign a friend of a Villa star.