Why Aston Villa should loan out Kortney Hause in January

Aston Villa are yet to reap the rewards of their mass recruitment policy in the summer transfer window, with the Lions currently languishing 18th in the Premier League standings. 

Dean Smith’s side have won only one out of their first seven league games while losing four in the process and the fans at Villa Park have every reason to be disappointed with their club’s rather underwhelming start to life back in the top-flight. 

Despite putting up some spirited displays early in the season, Villa haven’t been able to pick up enough points to show for their efforts and they will be hoping for things to take a turnaround in the positive direction, with the Lions set to face Norwich City and Brighton in the Premier League in coming weeks. 

Smith earned plenty of plaudits for his managerial heroics in the Championship during Villa’s promotion-winning campaign the last term and it was truly remarkable how he managed to convert the team from one of the worst defensive sides in the division to one of the best in the second half of the previous campaign. 

Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause, who initially came through the door at Villa Park in January on loan deals from Bournemouth and Wolves respectively, formed a formidable pairing at the heart of the defence in the Championship and were instrumental in Villa’s surge for promotion via the playoffs. 

The manager’s masterstroke certainly paid rich dividends and their consistently impressive performances prompted the Lions to sign both the players on permanent deals in the summer.

Mings stole much of the limelight for his hefty price tag while Hause also put pen to paper on permanent terms for a modest £3million. 

To that end, though, Mings and Hause have had hugely contrasting fortunes at Villa Park since the club’s promotion to the Premier League. While Mings recently earned himself an England call-up as a reward for his solid displays at the back alongside fellow summer recruit Bjorn Engels, Hause is yet to make his bow in the top-flight. 

The 24-year-old former England U-21 international, who was one of the mainstays of Wolves’ backline in the club’s Championship days, failed to make a single top-flight appearance under Nuno Santo last season before being loaned out to Villa in January. 

Hause has been handed starts in each of Villa’s League Cup fixtures against Crewe Alexandra and Brighton alongside Ezri Konsa but his constant omission from the playing eleven in the Premier League means that he is clearly down the pecking order. 

Despite their lacklustre start, the impressive displays of Mings and Engels at the heart of the defence haven’t gone unnoticed and, with the hugely-experienced James Chester likely to be available for selection after his recovery from injury, Hause’s prospect of playing regularly in the Premier League looks bleak, to be honest. 

It is still unclear whether the defender’s limited involvement is down to Smith’s lack of faith in his abilities or whether it is simply a matter of competition for places at the back, but things do not look all that bright for Kortney Hause at the moment. 

The 24-year-old could have been afforded a chance at left-back, given his versatility to play in that position, but Villa have been more than happy to stick with the likes of Neil Taylor, with Matt Targett only playing a bit-part role. 

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Suffice to say, the doors apparently look closed for Hause as far as regular involvement in the Premier League is concerned and a loan move to the Championship in January might be a fair settlement for both parties, unless, of course, the Lions face a grave injury crisis at the back.