Aston Villa want Stoke City midfielder Sol Sidibe | OneFootball

Aston Villa are now the ‘most persistent’ as clubs look to snap up Stoke City midfielder Sol Sidibe this summer, according to French outlet Foot Mercato.

The Paris-born 18-year-old has caught the attention of the Villa Park club as manager Unai Emery looks to bolster his squad depth in the middle of the park, but the Midlands club will face competition from Lille, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax for his services.

Sidibe is expected to leave the Championship club this summer, and a move to the Premier League to link up with Villa could appeal to him.

The ‘absolutely top-class’ England youth international will fancy his chances of impressing in the English top-flight, but he would want to get guarantees of regular playing opportunities to agree to a move.

Sidibe is a powerful ball-playing box-to-box midfielder, and while he boasts huge potential, he is not ready to break into the Villa starting XI and will need to keep developing before he can establish himself as a Premier League regular.

The Villans are featuring in four competitions next season and the teenage sensation will get opportunities to impress, and it would be up to him to show Emery he is capable of breaking into his first-team plans whenever he gets on the pitch.

They have brought in Dutch striker Zepiqueno Redmond and Turkish defender Yasin Ozcan so far this summer, and while the 19-year-old duo may need to bid their time before becoming mainstays in the team, the plans of the club to start preparing for the future are clear, and Sidibe could be next to join them.

Villa narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot at the end of last season after finishing sixth in the Premier League table on goal difference, and they will need quality recruitment this summer if they want to challenge for the top-four again next season and also impress in the Europa League.