For me, there is more that points to him leaving than staying. I suppose it is all about how you perceive it.
For me (though for some reason people see it as negativity), I look at it based on trends....
Villa have a habit of selling their best players
There are a number of clubs linked who can offer more than we can
He is yet to sign a new contract
He is yet to say that he wants to stay
In the past, those behaviours have led to a player being sold.
Thats not enormously negative imo. Its just an opinion I have made based on experience. Other people seem to want to focus on the world cup argument and the fact that we have been told he is not for sale (though we have been told that before). That's fine. Atm, neither argument is right or wrong.
Who is the biggest player we've sold with 3 years left on their contract?
Milner had 2, Young had 1, Downing 2, Barry 1. I can't really think of anyone we've sold with 3 years left.