Lovre Kalinic has an uncertain future at Aston Villa as he has struggled for form, fitness and playing time ever since he joined the club in 2019.
The 30-year-old finds himself behind Emiliano Martinez, Jed Steer and Tom Heaton in the pecking order, so it’s hard to see him staying at Villa Park when the winter transfer window opens.
Dean Smith recently spoke out about his goalkeeper options and admitted that one player will “probably” have to be moved on in January, so might that spell the end for Kalinic?
Smith told Birmingham Live: “My thing is once we get to January then we’ll certainly have to look at our goalkeeping situation because we’ve got four goalkeepers in the place (Martinez, Steer, Heaton, Kalinic). That’s probably one too many to be carrying.”
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Martinez is first choice, Steer is currently second choice and Heaton was a regular when fit, so it’s clear that Kalinic isn’t needed.
The Croatia international has made just eight appearances in all competitions for Villa since joining on a four-year deal from Gent in January 2019, conceding 15 goals and keeping only one clean sheet.
Kalinic’s last outing for the Midlands outfit came in February 2019, but he has been virtually frozen out since damaging his knee cartilage a month later.
The 30-year-old can’t afford to stagnate if he wants to make Croatia’s squad for next summer’s European Championships, so a move might be on the cards in January.
In other news, Dean Smith rules out a January exit for one Aston Villa player.
