Aston Villa monitor Sergio Gomez as alternative to Calvin Bassey, interest in Hickey cooled – report
Aston Villa are monitoring Anderlecht left-back Sergio Gomez as a potential summer signing to compete with Lucas Digne, according to The Athletic [June 1].
Steven Gerrard is keen to bolster his squad and has already made three permanent additions to the side with Philippe Coutinho, Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos all agreeing to join.
But their business isn’t done yet and The Athletic are reporting that he wants to add a progressive full-back to the squad to compete with Digne, who joined the club in January.
Interest in Aaron Hickey has cooled, but Gomez could be seen as a cheaper alternative to Calvin Bassey of Rangers who has been given a £25m price tag if he is to leave Glasgow this summer.
Gomez made 34 appearances in the Belgian top flight last season and chipped in with five goals and 12 assists, so would be an excellent attacking addition at full-back for the squad.
Talent
Gerrard clearly has big plans for this Villa side this summer but it relies heavily on getting in the right players for the right prices.
The club are looking to move forward with their business as early as possible to ensure a full pre-season to allow the new players to settle, and they’ve clearly set themselves a clear budget for their targets.
They’re not afraid to move on if necessary and having someone like Gomez as a back-up target shows you how high they’re aiming with their initial options.
Gomez is quick, strong, technical and has a great delivery which would suit the way Villa play, while also being only 21-years-old which means there is plenty of room for to him develop and learn and improve too.
It wouldn’t take a big chunk out of Villa’s budget either and would seemingly be a rather straightforward deal to do too, so there’s no down-side at this point.
In other Aston Villa news, ex-Villa man tells Gerrard to sign two recently relegated PL aces