Alan Hutton will be invited back on loan to Bolton Wanderers next season should he prove unable to force his way back into the Aston Villa first team.
The Scotland full-back, who has not played for the club since May 2012, has been instructed to report for pre-season training.
That is not a guarantee he will return to competitive action in the new season and Bolton will monitor the situation. The Championship club took Hutton on loan last season, and he impressed manager Dougie Freedman.
"Alan's expectations of himself will be to go and play in the Premier League," said the Scot. "If that's not the case at Villa, or at another Premier League club if he gets sold, and he wants to come back and play here, then of course we would take him back."
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