Aston Villa to make summer move for top transfer target after January bid rejected

The Mali international was the subject of a £25 million bid from Villa during the January transfer window - but the offer was rejected by their Premier League rivals.

The Seagulls are believed to rate Bissouma at around £50 million - although that could be subject to change as the 25-year-old enters the final 12 months of his current deal this summer.

Bissouma has become a firm favourite at Brighton with a string of consistent performances ever since he joined the Seagulls from Lille in a £15.1million deal during the summer of 2018.

Gerrard remains a keen admirer and admitted a bid had January bid for the midfielder had been rejected - but he hinted could revisit his interest in Bissouma at the end of the season.

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

“If a move is not right then we will not become desperate and make 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.

“The window [for Villa] was extremely strong. There were areas that we needed to find solutions for us to be stronger and better.

“We got 90 to 95 per cent of business done that we wanted to get done in the window. I’m delighted with the support from the board.”

Premier League rivals Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle United are also believed to be keen on making a summer move for Bissouma.

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