Rangers boss Steven Gerrard is the leading candidate to become Aston Villa’s new manager but, according to Tuttomercatoweb, Poland coach Paulo Sousa is also an option for the Premier League strugglers.
While it would be a bit of a stretch to describe the 51-year-old as the Iberian Alan Curbishley, Sousa is usually never far away whenever a Premier League job becomes available.
He has been linked with West Ham United, Southampton and even Arsenal in recent times.
According to the Mail, Aston Villa discussed Sousa back in October 2018 too, before handing boyhood fanatic Dean Smith the job he had always dreamed of.
Three years ago, Sousa was looking for a new project after walking away from Chinese Super League outfit Tianjin Quanjian.
Flash forward to the present day and, with Sousa now under contract at the Poland national team and preparing for the Qatar World Cup, it remains to be seen whether he would be tempted by the prospect of a return to English soil.
Would Paulo Sousa give up on the World Cup to take over Aston Villa?
Sousa, a former Portugal international, has previously held posts at Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City and Leicester.
It has been 11 years since his last spell in British football, however, fired in October 2010 after less than three months at Leicester following a disappointing start to the Championship campaign.
The nomadic, well-travelled Sousa has rebuilt his reputation since then, lifting league titles in Hungary, Switzerland and Israel before spells at Fiorentina and Bordeaux.
He is renowned for his stylish, possession-heavy style of football, revolving around high-pressing and a commitment to playing out from the back.
It is not certain how high Sousa is on Aston Villa’s radar, however, with all the signs suggesting that Gerrard is currently the club’s number one candidate.
The Record reports that Gerrard, who led Rangers to their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade last season, will set Villa back around £3 million.
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