Napoli confirm Aston Villa transfer decision after nightmare outcome

Napoli have confirmed they have not taken up their option to sign Leander Dendoncker permanently after his loan spell from Aston Villa.

Dendoncker signed for the Serie A club on loan at the end of January and there was an option for them to purchase the midfielder for around £8m. Shortly after the Belgian arrived in Italy, Walter Mazzarri was sacked as manager and replaced by Francesco Calzona.

The 29-year-old was also left out of their Champions League squad for the knockout stages and made a total of three appearances, totalling 21 minutes. He didn't feature in any of Napoli's final 12 league games of the season.

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Before joining Napoli, Dendoncker only started one Premier League last season when Boubacar Kamara was serving a suspension and featured another seven times off the bench towards the end of league games.

Dendoncker had made 14 appearances under Emery in 2022/23 and started five times as the club managed to return to Europe with a seventh-placed finish.

He joined Villa in the summer of 2022 from Wolverhampton Wanderers in a deal worth £13 million, but after less than two years at Villa Park, he appears to have played his last game for the club.

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