Aston Villa signed Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer from Olympique Marseille to bolster their defence and midfield, but Steven Gerrard is still on the hunt for an established deep-lying player to sit in front of the back four.
Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma are two players on Gerrard’s wishlist, but the duo won’t come cheap and have interest from the top of the English pyramid.
Dean Jones didn’t rule out Villa signing Bissouma, however. He believes the Midlands outfit might be leading the race for his signature despite the stiff competition.
Jones told Give Me Sport: “They’ll have massive competition to sign Bissouma and it seems that he’s probably further along in negotiations with other clubs. Somebody like Aston Villa might already be in the lead with trying to get him.”
The 25-year-old has made 124 appearances across the board since joining Brighton from LOSC Lille in 2018. He made 76 tackles, 50 interceptions, 47 clearances, 34 successful dribbles while completing 89.2% of his 1187 passes from 26 Premier League games this season, so there aren’t many better defensive-midfielders in the top-flight.
Villa have Marvelous Nakamba, Morgan Sanson and Tim Iroegbunam who can operate in the role, but Sanson is surplus to requirements while Iroegbunam is still raw, so Gerrard is likely to rely on Kamara or a new signing next season.
In other news, Steven Gerrard tipped to use ‘connections’ to sign Calvin Bassey
