Left Out

We’ve already heard Villa boss Steve Bruce admit that Villa have made an enquiry for Nottingham Forest midfielder Henri Lansbury, so to hear Nottingham Forest manager Philippe Montanier confirm that Henri Lansbury will not be involved in their FA Cup at Wigan Athletic tomorrow, suggests things are moving on with the transfer.

“We received an offer for Henri and we will see,” said Montanier. “We are not sure if he will stay, it is not my decision.

“It is a possibility that he will leave but also that he will stay, I cannot predict the future. It is less likely he will stay.”

PM: Henri won’t be involved tomorrow against Wigan as his head is not right to play #NFFC — Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) January 6, 2017

Certainly when it comes to transfers, managers tend to be cagey on talking about such matters, so the Forest bosses words are the clearest indication yet that Lansbury could be a Villa player by the time Villa make the trip to Wolves in their next league game.

A player not being selected for a team’s next match, means he’s interested at the very least, if he hasn’t packed his bags just yet.

MOMS spoke to a Forest fan over the Christmas period about the former Arsenal youth player, and he was fairly pi**ed off that Derby had put in an offer, before Villa announced their interest. Forest certainly rate the ex-Arsenal man.

Lansbury has always scored goals, whether out on loan when he was at Arsenal, or since he’s signed for Forest, so he could be the midfield spark that Villa need at this level. He also would have long-term worth, if Villa did get promoted back to the Premier League.

Arsène Wenger was keen to keep Lansbury at Arsenal back in 2012, but the player wanted to play more games and avoid more loans spells, hence the move to Forest. Lansbury certainly should be good enough for the Premier League, although that is in the distance at the moment.

Although the current Forest takeover may factor in proceedings, things should speed up with the transfer now with the deal out in the open and Forest seemingly coming to terms with him departing.

UTV

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