Aston Villa’s defence isn’t what it was last term. They don’t quite carry the same threat out wide without Jack Grealish either. And, up top, neither Ollie Watkins nor Danny Ings have performed consistently enough.
If Morgan Sanson played in any other position, he probably would have been handed a run of games by now. An opportunity to prove himself at last this side of the Channel tunnel.
Unfortunately, Aston Villa’s £15 million Frenchman is a central midfielder, rather than a left-winger or a centre-half. And it just so happens that two of the Villa players who have stepped up week-in, week-out over the last six months or so – John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey – have scribed their names in indelible ink on Steven Gerrard’s team sheet.
“Morgan is training well. He’s the ultimate professional. I’m certainly aware that he wants more game time so he needs to just continue to do what he’s doing,” Gerrard told the Birmingham Mail on March 5th.
“He’s up against the likes of John McGinn and JJ (Ramsey) who have arguably been our most consistent players since we’ve come in the door.”
Aston Villa want Josh Brownhill and Boubacar Kamara
In the nine weeks since Gerrard praise Sanson’s professionalism, making it clear that his furious, boot-kicking reaction to that hooking at Old Trafford was water under the proverbial bridge. Since then, the former Marseille playmaker has started just one league game.
What’s more, he’s been left on the bench for the last four.
And Aston Villa’s desire to bring in a new midfielder – Burnley’s £15 million-rated enforcer Josh Brownhill is the latest name in the frame, according to 90Min – makes it increasingly difficult to imagine Sanson sticking around for another season.
Especially with Crystal Palace potentially offering Sanson, one of Ligue 1’s most influential midfielders not so long ago, the sort of regular first-team football that looks increasingly like a pipe dream at Villa Park (Jeunes Footeaux).
According to the Daily Mail, Aston Villa opened talks to sign Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara this weekend too.
Out with the old, in with the new
James McArthur, Cheikhou Kouyate and Luka Milivojevic are not getting any younger. Sanson, a technically-gifted, cultured footballer who should suit Patrick Vieira’s style of play down to the ground, fits Crystal Palace’s new-look transfer strategy. One that revolves around replacing reliable veterans with younger models.
Gerrard was full of praise for Sanson’s performances behind the scenes of Bodymoor Heath. But he didn’t join Aston Villa to spend virtually all of his time on the training pitch.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
