Lambert determined to keep Ron Vlaar and Fabian Delph at Villa Park beyond January.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has insisted that neither of his side’s star assets will be flogged in the January transfer despite the fact that they both have just six months remaining on their Villa Park contracts, report the Mirror, with Manchester United and Liverpool set to have to hold fire if they want to secure Ron Vlaar and Fabian Delph respectively.
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Both players are amongst the key players under Lambert’s guidance in the West Midlands, although both have missed significant swathes of this season with various ailments, meaning that it should be no surprise that the vultures are beginning to circle as their contracts wind down towards expiry.
There had been suggestions that Villa could be tempted to cash in on Vlaar and Delph in January rather than risk them turning down new deals with the clubs and leaving on free transfers, but with Villa likely to be embroiled in a relegation battle, that is not a risk that Lambert is willing to take.
The Scot was steadfast in his refusal to entertain the idea of the duo departing during his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s clash with Manchester United, with Lambert insisting that the decision was his and that Vlaar and Delph would be staying put:
“The price gets inflated. Even if anybody came in, you would never let them go cheap or anything like that. Would any amount of money tempt me? No. They’ll not go anywhere in January. It’s my say.”