Aston Villa to wait before making decisions on returning players
Villa will wait until pre-season before making decisions on the futures of their returning loan players.
Conor Hourihane, Frederic Guilbert and Lovre Kalinic are all due to report back to Bodymoor Heath next month having spent the second half of last season away from the club.
It is expected goalkeeper Kalinic and midfielder Hourihane, who has just one season remaining on his contract, will be allowed to depart permanently should an acceptable offer be received.
The outlook for Guilbert is less clear, with the 26-year-old currently Villa’s second-choice right-back following the departure of Ahmed Elmohamady.
Villa signed Ashley Young earlier this month to provide cover in the full-back positions but further strengthening of the defensive ranks will be considered.
Bjorn Engels yesterday completed his move to Royal Antwerp for a fee of around £2.5million, meaning Villa currently have only three senior centre-backs on their books.
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