By Gabriel Agbonlahor

5th Jan, 2022 | 6:00pm

Agbonlahor: El Ghazi set for late-January Aston Villa exit after West Ham update

Gabby Agbonlahor has suggested Steven Gerrard does not rate Anwar El Ghazi and he could leave Aston Villa in the January transfer window.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Aston Villa’s record Premier League goalscorer suggested El Ghazi could depart towards the end of the month.

The winger has played just 33 minutes of Premier League football across three substitutes under Gerrard.

Football Insider exclusively revealed on Saturday (1 January) West Ham are plotting a move for the 26-year-old.

Aston Villa are ready to let him go permanently to raise funds for potential incomings and they are also open to loan offers.

Asked for his verdict on El Ghazi’s future, Agbonlahor told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “Gerrard’s been there for eight games and if you’ve only played 32 minutes then it tells you all you need to know, to be honest.

“But I’m sure Gerrard won’t let anybody go until his players are back from the Africa Cup of Nations. 

“The squad is quite light now and I don’t see him letting anybody go until later on in the window. If anybody is going to leave Villa it will be the last few days of the window.

“He’ll wait to see what he can get in.”

Fellow wingers Bertrand Traore and Trezeguet will represent Burkina Faso and Egypt, respectively, at AFCON this month.

Traore started Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Brentford at the weekend and Trezeguet replaced him with 10 minutes to go while El Ghazi remained an unused substitute.

In other news, an ex-Premier League referee has revealed an Aston Villa star should face retrospective punishment after ‘outrageous cheating’.