The Senegalese midfielder was one of few Aston Villa players to have an superb individual campaign despite the horror year at Villa Park.
It has been a dark, dark season at Villa Park this term – the darkest, in fact, in at least the last three decades since Aston Villa were last relegated from the top flight.
However, amidst the gloom there have been some isolated bright spots, and one of those has undoubtedly been the performances of last summer’s signing Idrissa Gana in the centre of midfield.
The Senegalese international cost £9 million when he joined from French side Lille a year ago, and he has looked worth every penny in the heart of the action for the Birmingham club.
Even just a cursory look at his statistics from the campaign shows how impressive his debut season in England really was despite playing – points-wise, at least – the third worst side ever seen in the Premier League.
No midfielder in the English top flight won the ball back on more occasions each match than Gana, who turned possession over nearly 10 times in every appearance, just edging Leicester City and new England star Danny Drinkwater.
Meanwhile, only Spurs star Mouse Dembele won more duels per game in midfield that the African midfielder, and it was only Leicester’s PFA Player of the Year nominee N’Golo Kante who intercepted opposition play on more occasions each match.
| Position | Team | Ball Recovery GAME | Duel Won GAME | Interception GAME | Won Tackle GAME | Won Contest GAME | Total Pass GAME | Accurate Pass GAME | Touches GAME | Appearances | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idrissa Gueye | MF | Aston Villa | 9.83 | 8.43 | 4.03 | 3.09 | 1.97 | 53.4 | 45.69 | 73.74 | 35 | 3,075 |
| Daniel Drinkwater | MF | Leicester | 9.77 | 5.46 | 1.57 | 2.11 | 0.89 | 56.69 | 44 | 72.6 | 35 | 3,038 |
| N’Golo Kanté | MF | Leicester | 8.81 | 7.49 | 4.22 | 3.38 | 1.27 | 39.16 | 31.97 | 59.05 | 37 | 3,020 |
| Victor Wanyama | MF | Southampton | 8.33 | 6.97 | 2.27 | 2.37 | 0.77 | 45.07 | 37.13 | 59.97 | 30 | 2,500 |
| Aaron Ramsey | MF | Arsenal | 8 | 6.13 | 1.84 | 1.9 | 1.26 | 69.45 | 59.81 | 89.48 | 31 | 2,623 |
| Yann M’Vila | MF | Sunderland | 7.76 | 5.41 | 2.32 | 1.86 | 0.41 | 45.38 | 36.95 | 61.92 | 37 | 3,188 |
| Mousa Dembélé | MF | Tottenham | 7.69 | 8.59 | 1.93 | 2.9 | 2.86 | 47.52 | 42.76 | 64.79 | 29 | 2,273 |
| Gareth Barry | MF | Everton | 7.24 | 5.85 | 1.61 | 2.06 | 0.55 | 62.42 | 51.12 | 77.52 | 33 | 2,835 |
| Francis Coquelin | MF | Arsenal | 7.23 | 5.58 | 2.96 | 2.19 | 1.15 | 42.88 | 38.23 | 55.88 | 26 | 1,646 |
| Nemanja Matic | MF | Chelsea | 6.91 | 5.33 | 2.03 | 1.91 | 1.15 | 48.7 | 42.91 | 62.82 | 33 | 2,421 |
| Emre Can | MF | Liverpool | 6.8 | 6.37 | 2.07 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 59.8 | 48.6 | 75.37 | 30 | 2,492 |
| Cheikhou Kouyaté | MF | West Ham | 6.68 | 7.29 | 2.26 | 2.15 | 0.85 | 36.29 | 28.85 | 52.79 | 34 | 3,009 |
| Mark Noble | MF | West Ham | 6.38 | 5.46 | 2.24 | 2 | 0.78 | 51.97 | 44.84 | 66.7 | 37 | 3,204 |
| Moussa Sissoko | MF | Newcastle | 6.08 | 6 | 0.95 | 1.24 | 2.27 | 37.43 | 28.41 | 58.86 | 37 | 3,221 |
| Georginio Wijnaldum | MF | Newcastle | 6 | 4.32 | 0.71 | 0.84 | 1.32 | 32.95 | 27.95 | 46.05 | 38 | 3,168 |
| Yohan Cabaye | MF | C. Palace | 5.85 | 4.97 | 3.64 | 2.42 | 0.27 | 38.45 | 31.79 | 58.82 | 33 | 2,703 |
| James Milner | MF | Liverpool | 5.82 | 5.32 | 1.32 | 1.89 | 0.68 | 49.07 | 38 | 73.68 | 28 | 2,414 |
| Morgan Schneiderlin | MF | Man Utd | 5.55 | 3.93 | 2.52 | 1.72 | 0.31 | 50.28 | 45 | 61.45 | 29 | 2,204 |
| Michael Carrick | MF | Man Utd | 5.43 | 2.86 | 1.61 | 0.96 | 0.29 | 55.96 | 48.39 | 64.68 | 28 | 1,975 |
| Dele Alli | MF | Tottenham | 5.3 | 6.15 | 1.85 | 1.61 | 0.91 | 32.82 | 24.91 | 53.48 | 33 | 2,479 |
| Dimitri Payet | MF | West Ham | 5 | 4.4 | 0.77 | 0.53 | 2.23 | 42.3 | 33.9 | 67.27 | 30 | 2,571 |
| Yaya Touré | MF | Man City | 4.94 | 4.84 | 0.78 | 0.84 | 1.81 | 57.44 | 49.66 | 70.72 | 32 | 2,331 |
| Ross Barkley | MF | Everton | 4.89 | 6.58 | 0.45 | 0.58 | 3.05 | 47.42 | 40.76 | 67.55 | 38 | 3,085 |
| Eric Dier | MF | Tottenham | 4.08 | 5.32 | 2.16 | 1.73 | 0.22 | 56.32 | 46.89 | 68.7 | 37 | 3,266 |
| Joe Allen | MF | Liverpool | 3.84 | 3.11 | 0.74 | 1 | 0.37 | 21.58 | 18.11 | 29.47 | 19 | 731 |
| Fabian Delph | MF | Man City | 3.82 | 3.82 | 1.29 | 0.76 | 1.41 | 28.41 | 24.35 | 38.65 | 17 | 753 |
| Craig Gardner | MF | West Brom | 3.26 | 3.47 | 0.88 | 1.15 | 0.21 | 18.12 | 11.62 | 31.56 | 34 | 2,033 |
Gana was only behind Kante and Liverpool stalwart Lucas Leiva in terms of successful tackles per appearance, although the latter featured in eight fewer league fixtures than the Villa man.
The 26-year-old also posted very impressive figures in terms of touches per game, contests won each match, and his overall passing accuracy, which at 85% was surprisingly good considering his reputation for being caught in possession.
Gana was the heartbeat of Villa’s side this season, and had he settled into life in England slightly more quickly and – crucially – had some quality support in the midfield, the club’s abject campaign could have been very different.
He is far too good to stick with Villa in the Championship, and could likely do the job for a top-six English or European side, and deserves to be one of several stars to move on this summer.
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