Aston Villa reach agreement with Emiliano Buendia over one-year contract extension | OneFootball

Aston Villa have reached an agreement with Argentine midfielder Emiliano Buendia over a one-year contract extension, according to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein.

The 28-year-old has been linked with an exit in this window, with Bayer Leverkusen keen on luring him away from the Villa Park club, while manager Unai Emery claimed last week that he has the option to leave.

However, the Villans do not intend to sanction a permanent departure for Buendia during the ongoing January transfer window and he has now agreed to extend his existing contract (which was due to expire in June 2026) until 2027.

The Villa star returned from a long-term knee injury last September and has had to settle for a bit-part role, but he remains an important player for the Midlands club, putting in an impressive performance against AS Monaco in the Champions League last week.

He joined Villa from Norwich City in 2021 for more than £30 million and was a regular in the starting XI before injury struck.

Buendia has featured in 18 games across all competitions this term, but he has only started thrice and will hope to play more minutes going forward after committing another year to the club.

He has made 96 appearances for Villa, weighing in with ten goals and nine assists, and retaining his services should come in handy in the middle of the park given his quality and huge experience.

Emery needs all the squad depth available during the second half of 2024-25, and losing such a key player is the last thing the Spaniard needs as Villa look to finish the campaign better than they started.

They are looking to advance to the Champions League round of 16 by sealing an automatic qualification spot which comes with a top-eight finish, and they need an emphatic victory against Celtic on Wednesday and hope other results go their way for that to happen.