Express & Star

Gabriel Agbonlahor mulls MLS move as Aston Villa exit door looms

Forgotten man Gabriel Agbonlahor is considering a move to the MLS when he heads through the Villa exit door this summer.

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The striker’s 17-year association with the club is expected to end when his contract expires at the end of June.

A switch to the USA is now seen as a fresh start and an opportunity to kick-start a career which has gone in stale in recent years.

Agbonlahor is Villa’s all-time Premier League top scorer and the club’s longest-serving current player.

But he has found the net only once in each of the past three campaigns, while he has been limited to only six Championship appearances this term, the last of those on December 23.

The 31-year-old’s relationship with supporters has, meanwhile, never fully recovered following the 2015-16 campaign which ended with Villa relegation from the Premier League and Agbonlahor placed on a personal fitness regime.

He was previously linked with a move to the MLS after being sent to train with the under-23s during Roberto Di Matteo’s brief tenure in charge at Villa Park at the start of last season.

Despite returning to the fold under Steve Bruce, Agbonlahor has struggled to make an impact and there is an acknowledgement his future may now lie in the USA.