Aston Villa star Laura Blindkilde Brown set for Deadline Day departure

Aston Villa Women star Laura Blindkilde Brown could be set to depart on Deadline Day, according to reports.

The young midfielder broke through under Carla Ward in the 2021/22 season and has been a regular fixture in her team ever since.

However, she is now capturing the attention of some of the Women’s Super League’s biggest clubs, with Tom Garry reporting on Wednesday morning that she is set to move to Manchester City.

Garry reported that Villa will receive a fee of around £200,000 for the 20-year-old, roughly half of the British record fee that took Mayra Ramirez to Chelsea earlier in the window.

Blindkilde has played an important role for Villa so far this season, making nine appearances in the centre of midfield.

Worrying signs ahead

Villa fans are already concerned with the direction the team has been heading in this season, with last season’s remarkable fifth-place finish already feeling like a distant memory.

They currently sit in eighth, having lost eight of their 12 games in the league and getting dumped out of the FA Cup with a 3-0 defeat to Everton.

However, this latest development is yet another blow to Villa’s hopes this season, for two key reasons.

Firstly, as is seemingly tradition for Villa ever since their promotion to the WSL in 2020, they are operating on a tiny squad and often struggle to even fill a bench.

They have already controversially loaned out Olivia McLoughlin to Rangers this month, but losing yet another midfielder leaves them in a precarious position.

Also, perhaps more concerningly, this could set a dangerous precedent of Villa becoming a selling club.

Despite their relatively recent arrival to the league, Villa have usually been able to stave off interest in their best players since promotion.

They did lose promising full-back Asmita Ale to Tottenham in 2021, but they immediately upgraded on her by signing Maz Pacheco.

Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton also departed last summer to Chelsea, but she was also replaced by Ballon d’Or nominee Daphne van Domselaar.

Villa have been able to use their strong backing from the owners and the rising status of the club to attract a high calibre of player, but also to keep them there.

However, Blindkilde’s departure could signal an end to this trend and cast doubt on their long-term stability.

On the other hand, Villa could do what they have always done and pull another strong signing out of the bag to replace their departing star and all will be well again.

According to Emma Sanders, Villa are lining up a loan move for Liverpool’s Miri Taylor, who has played just 82 minutes of football this season, so the true replacement for Blindkilde will have to come in the summer.