Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa revolution: latest on Yves Bissouma and other targets - in and out

Aston Villa have already flexed their financial muscle in the January transfer window but Steven Gerrard appears to be far from finished as he continues his Villa Park rebuild.

Having clinched the signatures of France left-back Lucas Digne for £25m, Brazilian star Philippe Coutinho on loan and young defender Kerr Smith last week, Gerrard’s Villa revolution is in full swing.

Villa were the 18th-highest spenders in Europe on international transfers in 2021 and all the signs are that the club intends to do much more business before the start of next season.

Here, we take a look at who else could be arriving in B6 this month and who may be seeing their Villa career come to an end.

Yves Bissouma

Villa are reportedly in pole position to sign the gifted Brighton midfielder who is currently representing Mali in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Big guns including Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United have all shown interest in the 25-year-old in recent times but the chance to work under Gerrard may prove vital in securing the services of a player whose tough-tackling, box-to-box skills mirror those the Villa boss was famed for.

It is likely Villa will have to part with a minimum of £40m to bag Bissouma, but they have already shown they are prepared to pay such sums.

The biggest stumbling block may be in persuading Bissouma to join a club not currently offering European football when offers are likely to come in from elsewhere for Bissouma, who has been a revelation since arriving at the Amex Stadium in 2018.

Robin Olsen

Thirty-two-year-old Swedish international keeper Olsen is set to move to Villa Park on loan for the remainder of the season.

Olsen is currently playing in the Championship on loan at Sheffield United from Italian side Roma, but that deal is on the verge of being cut short to allow Olsen to provide sterner competition for regular Villa number one Emi Martinez.

Joe Aribo

Gerrard is a known admirer of midfielder Aribo who continues to impress for Glasgow Rangers.

The 25-year-old has played 20 times in the Scottish Premiership this season - scoring six goals and registering four assists – and is a key cog in the wheel as the Gers lead the way north of the border under Gerrard’s successor Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

Aribo is currently on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Nigeria for whom he has also impressed at the tournament as his assist helped his country to a crucial 1-0 win over Mo Salah’s Egypt.

Aribo, who can play centrally in midfield or out wide, has been touted for a move south and Villa and Leicester City are known admirers who could test Rangers’ resolve to hang on to the player with bids this month.

Kortney Hause

Premier League strugglers Watford are weighing up whether to firm up their interest in Villa’s centre-back, who has found himself out of the team as Gerrard pairs Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa in central defence.

Whether Hause would consider a move to Vicarage Road is debatable, especially as he could now be set for a spell in the team having replaced the injured Konsa at half-time against Manchester United on Saturday.

Potentially of more interest to Konsa would be a switch to West Ham, who are known to have watched the 26-year-old who began his career in the West Ham academy.

The Hammers are, of course, playing European football and are in contention to do so again next season. They have also lost centre-back Angelo Ogbonna to injury for the remainder of the season so are light on numbers.

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