Aston Villa: Gerrard could bring 'phenomenal' £31.5m star to Villa Park | OneFootball

Aston Villa could still potentially sign Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma this summer, according to talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook.

The Villans tried to land the 25-year-old in January, and Crook has refused to rule out the possibility of them renewing their interest.

What happened with Villa’s approach for Bissouma in January?

In his first transfer window at the club, Steven Gerrard wanted to bring in a central midfielder, and he turned to Bissouma.

Gerrard confirmed that Villa put an offer in for Bissouma, believed to be in the region of £25m, but this was rejected by the South Coast club.

Bissouma, who has been at Brighton since 2018, is currently valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt.

…

What has Crook said about Bissouma potentially joining Villa?

Brighton may have already turned down a bid for Bissouma from Villa, but Crook thinks the Premier League outfit would be happy to sell the midfielder this summer for the right price.

With Bissouma about to enter the final year of his contract, and Brighton having a couple of alternatives to the Mali international, Crook feels the club may now be tempted to cash in on him.

Speaking about Villa’s search for a midfielder, Crook told GIVEMESPORT: “It’s an area that Gerrard’s been trying to address. Yves Bissouma’s one to keep an eye on, because I think Brighton, if they get a decent offer from someone like Aston Villa, they would be willing to sell, because they’ve got Caicedo, who’s come into the team at the end of the season and played quite well. They’ve got Mwepu, who they think can have a decent second season as well.”

How does Bissouma compare to Douglas Luiz this season?

If Bissouma did move to Villa Park, he would likely take over from Douglas Luiz at the base of Villa’s midfield. He compares favourably to the Brazilian, based on this season’s statistics.

According to WhoScored, Bissouma has completed more tackles (3 to 1.8), more interceptions (2 to 1), and more successful dribbles (1.4 to 0.8) per game than Luiz.

This indicates that Bissouma, who has previously been described by Lee Hendrie as “phenomenal“, is more well-rounded than his counterpart as he can tidy up in front of the defence, while also being able to dribble the ball up the pitch.

His overall game rating is higher as well as he has earned an average mark of 7.04, with Luiz down at 6.80.

Therefore, Bissouma would appear to be an upgrade on Luiz, who could make a significant difference to Villa’s team as they aim to push for Europe next season.