Aston Villa have numbers in midfield with Boubacar Kamara, Marvelous Nakamba, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, Morgan Sanson, Carney Chukwuemeka and Tim Iroegbunam at their disposal, but three of the aforementioned could leave this summer, putting pressure on Steven Gerrard to replace them.
Luiz is out of contract in 2023 and isn’t close to putting pen to paper on an extension, so he might have to be sold this summer. Sanson is surplus to requirements and could be moved on as he’s unlikely to get much playing time. And Chukwuemeka is also refusing to commit his future. He’s stalling on a new deal beyond 2023, so he might need replacing soon too.
Gerrard has substance in the form of Iroegbunam, Kamara, Nakamba, Luiz and McGinn, but he could do with more creativity to address the imbalance. Transfer expert Dean Jones says Joe Aribo as Rangers might be on Villa’s radar as a result.
Gerrard isn’t afraid to dip into his old club to make signings and Jones says Aribo might be available after an impending move elsewhere fell through. He told Give Me Sport: “I think Aribo will become an option a bit later in the window from what I’m told.
“I think he had ideas of going somewhere else that have fallen through, and now they’re going to look at further options, and I know that Villa is just one of those that need to be explored. So that might happen but further down the line.”
The 25-year-old made 57 appearances in all competitions for Rangers last season, scoring nine goals with 10 assists. He’s had a hand in 51 goals from 148 games since joining the Gers (2019 – present).
In other news, Gabriel Agbonlahor says Keinan Davis could still join Nottingham Forest
