It does look that way.
No doubt he loves club but has his agent given him ‘captain hang on we get you £££’ and it’s backfired badly cos we went up?
There’s no way he’s first 11 now, no way on earth. He’s 5th choice CM.
It’s a shame but we are moving into a new period and progress will always see casualties.
It would be interesting to know what his agent has said to him. And who that agent is.
I like Dan, he's a good player, and being around others would or should make him better. But, and I cannot stop singing this song, a good agent should get his player to sign the first genuine "set you up" contract that he can. The rest will follow. He hasn't done that yet, and frankly must be absolutely dreading a bad injury, accident or some other freak occurrence that would mean his current deal is his last. That would put him among the rest of us in a few years time.
I'm not sure he'll get much more elsewhere, and it really is true that the grass is usually just the same colour "over there" . But it is up to him, and emphatically not his agent. He is 24 before the end of the year. It needs sorting out, but I don't hear the clubs that might pay a lot more banging down the door.