Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard confirms Yves Bissouma bid during transfer window

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard has spoken out for the first time about Villa’s interest in Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma during the January transfer window, confirming the club did have a bid rejected for the Malian.

Bissouma, 25, was linked with the claret & blue pretty much every day throughout last month and Gerrard explained that there was indeed a fire beneath all of the smoke that was drifting around in regards to a potential deal for the talented holding player.

For all the positive work that went down at Villa Park during last month, there was one position of high priority that remained untouched - central midfield.

It appeared from the outside looking in to be Villa’s weakest area on the field so it came as a surprise to see numerous additions walking through the door that seemed to take up positions everywhere but.

They were being linked with names left right and centre. Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Kalvin Phillips. But nothing ever developed.

However, Gerrard today opened up about his first transfer window as Villa Head Coach and confirmed that there was indeed strong interest in bringing in a midfielder, with the club even having a strong bid knocked back for the Brighton man.

“Incomings, the window was extremely strong,” Gerrard said.

“There were areas that we needed to find solutions for us to be stronger and better. We got 90/95% of business done that we wanted to get done in the window. I’m delighted with the support from the board.

“It was well documented that we put in a bid for Bissouma at Brighton which was turned away, and we respected and appreciated it.

“If a move is not right then we will not become desperate and make a decisions that we do not think is right. If it’s not right at the time we might have to be patient in a few situations.

“Pre-window and during the window we were probably linked with 12 holding midfielders. It’s a position we’re looking to add in.

“With [Marvelous] Nakamba, he’ll be back fit soon so we’ll assess it as we go along, things might change. But going into this window with the injury to Naka I felt it was a priority to try to solve it, but we’ll only make decisions and say yes to certain situations if they’re going to be right for Aston Villa, if they’re going to improve the team and squad.”

Gerrard reiterated the need to be patient when it comes to his transfer targets, claiming that he would rather wait and get his number one priority further down the line than rush and bring in a “second-best” option.

“I won’t be a manager who will try to be wasteful or compromise in certain situations and go down the list because I believe our fans and this club deserves the right people in the right positions,” he added.

“If that’s the case and we have to be patient then we’ll do it.

“The support I’ve had during the first window and since I walked in the door has been brilliant and I really appreciate that.

“We will keep analysing the squad and if we feel we need support in that area we’ll look for the right target.

“We won’t compromise and try to find Plan B, C, D or E. We’ll keep pushing and try to get the right person.”

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