Ron Vlaar to stay at Villa after all?

With a contract that expires at the end of the season, it's looked likely that defender Ron Vlaar would be leaving Aston Villa at the conclusion of the current campaign. The Netherlands international had been linked with former Oranje boss Louis van Gaal's Manchester United in January, and a few other teams had shown interest in signing him on a Bosman this summer. He's been plagued by injury this season and had fallen out of favour under Paul Lambert, but according to Sky Sports, new manager Tim Sherwood may have convinced him to stay.

"Things have changed for me in the past few months since (Tim) Sherwood took over," Vlaar said in an interview with Sky.

Injuries may have allowed Vlaar to get back into the lineup, but he's lived up to his nickname of "Concrete Ron" in the past few matches, including a rock-solid display against Liverpool in the FA Cup semifinal this weekend. Fabian Delph may have taken over as captain, and Ciaran Clark may be the best central defender on the roster going forward, but Vlaar still could contribute to this team in the future.

Signing him to a 2-year contract may be a good choice due to his injury history, but there's no reason we shouldn't want him to remain at B6 if he keeps up his recent form.