Steven Gerrard jets out to watch Atletico midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia for Aston Villa – report
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard jetted out to watch Atletico Madrid against Manchester City this week in the Champions League.
That’s according to the Birmingham Mail, who report that the Villa boss was watching Geoffrey Kondogbia in midfield.
Kondogbia is seen as a serious target with the club said to be “very confident” of a summer deal being completed.
Gerrard has bemoaned his midfield options since arriving.
Douglas Luiz hasn’t exactly set the world alight, and Marvellous Nakamba has been out with a long-term injury problem.
Bringing in fresh faces in that area appears to be one of the main priorities going into the upcoming summer window.
Kondogbia arriving could be the start of mass movement in and out of Villa Park in Gerrard’s first big window in charge.
Get it done.
This would be a superb signing.
It would also show us just how big of a draw having Gerrard in charge of the club is after he managed to get a deal for Philippe Coutinho over the line back in January.
This would not have happened with Dean Smith in charge, and the money being pumped into the club by Christian Purslow looks set to be impressive again.
With another £100million+ likely to be spent, starting it with Kondogbia in a critical area would be a smart move.
Gerrard has been busy in recent weeks, with numerous scouting missions being shared, including Noni Madueke at PSV Eindhoven.
It looks as though there will be a big rebuild coming at Villa Park, and that means we can expect many outgoings as well as those coming in.
In other Aston Villa news, Steven Gerrard is thrilled with the consistency of Matty Cash