Aston Villa have been in poor form of late, suffering four consecutive Premier League defeats while conceding nine goals. Their latest loss was a 4-0 thrashing on home soil by Tottenham Hotspur and Douglas Luiz watched a lot of the game go by in his makeshift defensive-midfield role.
Steven Gerrard hasn’t managed to ably protect his back-four since Marvelous Nakamba was sidelined with injury, and he doesn’t trust Morgan Sanson in the position, so the Villa manager is expected to bring in another defensive-midfielder when the summer transfer window opens.
Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips, Olympique Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma are among the players on Villa’s shortlist, and Danny Mills believes the latter would jump at the chance to join.
He told Football Insider: “The club have got money, they are ambitious. Two or three signings wouldn’t surprise me, a defensive midfield player and maybe a centre-half. Bissouma would improve them and improve under Gerrard.
“Any midfield player thinking ‘Am I going to improve at Aston Villa?’ Well, there’s Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister there. There’s not a lot more knowledge you can get. He’ll jump at it.”
Bissouma joined Brighton on a five-year deal from LOSC Lille in 2018 and has gone on to make 119 appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals with two assists. He’s made 21 Premier League appearances this season, making 43 interceptions and 65 tackles while winning 14/26 aerial duels, making 27/40 successful dribbles and completing 89.3% of his passes.
Villa could do a lot worse than Bissouma, but will they land his signature?
