Noel Whelan has urged Nottingham Forest target Henri Lansbury to leave Aston Villa ahead of next week's transfer deadline.

The midfielder joined the Villans in 2017 and has since struggled to nail down a first-team spot, and since promotion to the Premier League, Lansbury has barely featured.

Lansbury made 150 appearances for Nottingham Forest and was a spark in their midfield as he scored on 33 occasions, whilst assisting 20 times at the City Ground.

Deadline day is fast approaching and if Lansbury is wanting to play first-team football in the near future then a move away is needed for the player's career.

Whelan has expressed that he has to leave in order to kickstart his career again, and if he does that then can be the star he once was at Forest.

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan said: "He’s got to get out of Aston Villa as quickly as possible and kickstart his career again, start being that star player at Forest before he left."

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The Verdict

Lansbury was very good at Forest before he left the club, but since moving to Villa, it hasn't worked out for the player at all and it's a surprise he's still there.

He needs a move to reinvigorate his career as at the moment it's going nowhere and there's nothing that he can do apart from actively search for a new club himself.

It'll be interesting to see if he does leave the club, and if so then he may well find himself playing regular football in the Championship again, something he'd surely be delighted with.