Villa may complete midfield with Guendouzi

The January transfer window is set to slam shut on Tuesday night and Aston Villa could add further signings to their squad on top of the two additions they have made so far.

Unai Emery’s first window in charge of the Villans, since taking over from Steven Gerrard earlier this season, has resulted in Alex Moreno and Jhon Duran coming in from Real Betis and Chicago Fire respectively.

Football Insider reported that Villa are interested in a deal to sign Marseille central midfielder Matteo Guendouzi before the end of the month to bolster their squad.

The Ligue 1 side reportedly value the France international, who previously played in the Premier League with Arsenal, at £30m and it remains to be seen whether or not Johan Lange will sanction a move at that price.

Journalist Alex Crook recently told GIVEMESPORT that the midfielder “would be keen” on a move to Villa Park if the two clubs can agree a fee and stated that the club are currently “light” in the middle of the park after Morgan Sanson’s exit.

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Emery must now push Villa to snap the Frenchman up as signing Guendouzi before the deadline could complete the Spaniard’s midfield heading into the second half of the campaign.

Douglas Luiz and Boubacar Kamara are both in the club’s top four performers, according to WhoScored’s ratings, in the Premier League this season, whilst Jacob Ramsey is just outside of the top five in sixth.

However, Scotland international John McGinn, who has started 14 of the team’s matches in the division, has averaged a rating of 6.58 and is ranked as low as 13th in the squad.

This suggests that there is scope to bring in an upgrade on the Scottish gem by bringing in a player who can be one of the top-performing players in the team, alongside the likes of Kamara, Luiz, and Ramsey.

Guendouzi could be that man as the talent has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.75 in Ligue 1 this season and recorded a rating of 6.87 in 35 starts for Marseille in the French top-flight last term. Both of those scores would place him in the top four in Villa’s squad this season and this indicates that the gem could be a fantastic addition to the side.

Along with their respective average ratings, the France international has also averaged more shot-creating actions, assists, non-penalty goals, and progressive passes per 90 than McGinn over the last 365 days.

This means that Guendouzi has performed to a higher standard whilst also contributing more at the top end of the pitch, both in terms of scoring goals and creating chances, and this is why signing the 23-year-old could complete Villa’s starting midfield.

The Frenchman could come in as one of Emery’s top performers, alongside Luiz, Ramsey, and Kamara, and boot McGinn out of the starting XI, which could leave the Villa boss with a midfield full of excellent, consistently impressive, players.