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Gabby Agbonlahor looks to be a part of Aston Villa’s future, even though Aston Villa didn’t really want that. The striker has been completely ostracized from the club under Tony Xia and Roberto Di Matteo, and it has been made public knowledge that he is welcome to leave whenever.
According to a report from the BBC’s Pat Murphy, Villa apparently had a deal worked out to send Agbonlahor to Reading, a direct competitor in the Championship, but the deal was rejected by the player himself.
Hearing that Gabby Agbonlahor turned down a move to @ReadingFC so where does he go from here?
— Pat Murphy (@patmurphybbc) August 31, 2016
At this point, the report is speculative and delving into motivations any further would be irresponsible. But we can say, with some certainty, that despite a desire to see Gabby gone from Villa Park, that won’t be happening.
So in the meantime, Villa will continue to pay his wages and he will, in all likelihood, continue to not play at all. It’s a pretty terrible situation for everyone involved.