Does it make sense to cash in on Jordan Ayew?

Jordan Ayew will certainly be leaving Aston Villa in January — if only temporarily to participate in the African Cup of Nations tournament. However, he’s also been attracting the interest of teams both as near as London and as far as Shanghai.

Yesterday it was reported by the Birmingham Mail that both Premier League and Chinese Super League clubs were interested in the Ghanaian attacker, and today the S*n have named Shanghai SIPG as a team hoping to secure the services of Ayew.

If this is the case, I say go for it. Jordan had been linked with a move to West Ham in the past, which would be nice for him because his brother André plays for the Hammers. However, it’s always better to sell outside of England if possible, especially considering the money that Chinese teams have been throwing around lately.

Ayew hasn’t been at the top of the pecking order under Steve Bruce, and the squad really could use some help in midfield. However, with a current season transfer deficit of about £35 million, the manager will have to sell to buy in order to stay in line with both Financial Fair Play and the new policies being implemented by Dr. Tony Xia.

With just three goals in 17 appearances this season, Ayew’s been slightly underperforming (in my opinion) in terms of his talent. He’s an electric player that should be lighting up this league. Sure, many of his contributions don’t show up on the stat sheet, but he could be doing slightly better than he has so far.

Villa paid Lorient £8.5 million for Ayew in 2015. If the club can somehow get £20 million from a Chinese team, they should sell without hesitation. Even £15 million could go a long way towards improving this team, as it would be ideal to upgrade at both attacking midfield and a little further back in central midfield.

Do you think Villa should take the cash (if it’s there)? Or would you be sad to see Ayew go? Let us know in the comments!