Hendrie In Villa Park Exit?

Looks like we could be waving goodbye to Villa’s longest serving player sometime before next Wednesday’s transfer window deadline.

Stoke had thought they had the signature of 29-year-old midfielder Lee Hendrie this week but the player now looks set to stay in the Premiership.

Stoke’s chief executive Tony Scholes told the club’s official website: ‘After a frustrating morning, we’ve been unable to secure a deal with Aston Villa for the loan of Lee Hendrie. We were desperately keen to sign Lee in advance of Saturday’s FA Cup match at Fulham but, unfortunately, problems have occurred due to interest from a Premiership club. We are however, still very keen to sign Lee and we have not given up hope of securing a deal.’

Neil Warnock has been linked several times to Hendrie in his bid to keep Sheffield United up this season.