Steven Gerrard has shared that Aston Villa’s new boy, Boubacar Kamara, has ‘shown his quality’ in pre-season after his first new sessions with the club.
This is the first time Gerrard is seeing the defensive-minded midfielder up close and personal, with the Villa boss saying he has a ‘really impressive football IQ’, as he told Villa TV.
Following the aftermath of how the 2021/22 Premier League season ended, Villa didn’t waste any time in dipping into the transfer market and signing Kamara from Marseille on a free transfer less than 24 hours after the Manchester City game concluded.
It was some coup for the Midlands giants because they beat some hefty competition for the France international, who will now be expected to challenge Douglas Luis and Marvelous Nakamba for starting spots.
Nonetheless, this is what Gerrard has had to say about Villa’s new boy in training and how he has settled into his new surroundings.
“He has shown his quality,” said Gerrard. “We have only had two or three sessions, from a football point of view. But straightaway you can see he’s got a really impressive football IQ.
“He knows the game. He has a real impressive game understanding. Technically, he is a wonderful passer of the ball, but it’s really early at the moment. He’s still settling in, getting used to his teammates and us as a staff.
“But I am very confident that in time he will settle well and he will be a real big player for Aston Villa.”
DO VILLA NEED ANOTHER DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER?
It will be interesting if Gerrard wants another player of that ilk added to his squad ahead of the new season because the aim is to get into Europe.
Previously, Nakamba and more regularly, Luiz, have played that deep role, but the latter has less than 12 months remaining on his contract and Gerrard sees him as a player that should be playing further forward.
If that’s the case, then Kamara will battle Nakamba for that defensive midfield role, but whilst the Zimbabwe international has the aggression and bite to his game, he doesn’t have that physical presence Villa crave.
That’s what Gerrard will be hoping Kamara provides, and if he does, then it will be one of the signings of the summer, especially given that the club paid zero transfer fee for his talents.
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