Aston Villa are reportedly interested in signing Leicester City’s midfield enforcer Wilfred Ndidi during the summer transfer window.
According to Daily Star, Aston Villa are lining up an ambitious summer swoop for Leicester City powerhouse Wilfred Ndidi, with manager Steven Gerrard keen on bolstering his midfield ranks in the summer.
The Villans were very active in the January transfer window as Gerrard looked to put his own stamp on his squad, and made the eye-catching signings of Philippe Coutinho (loan) and Lucas Digne. Still, they failed to land a top-notch holding midfielder despite strong links with Rodrigo Bentancur.
Thus, Gerrard could prioritise fixing the central midfield position when the transfer window reopens in the summer. And the ambitious Villa hierarchy are said to be looking to make a further statement of intent by spending big, with claims of Gerrard being handed as much as £50 million to splash on a new midfielder.
As per the report, Aston Villa had a £30 million bid knocked back for Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma last month. They are open to revisiting their interest in the Malian midfielder at the end of the season. But another name emerging on the very top of Gerrard’s wishlist is Leicester City’s tough-tackling midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.
Ndidi joined Leicester City from Belgium outfit KRC Genk in January 2017 and has since established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League. He has been a great servant at the King Power Stadium and has already racked up 199 appearances for the Foxes, chipping in with ten goals and 11 assists in the process.
He has been a key member of Brendan Rodgers’s side that won the FA Cup and Community Shield last year and achieved back-to-back fifth-placed finishes in the top-flight in the past two seasons. And the Nigerian enforcer’s standout performances for club and country have not gone unnoticed.
He has previously attracted interest from a host of Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and Liverpool, while Spanish giants Real Madrid also sent scouts to monitor the Foxes’ midfielder at the Africa Cup of Nations. Now, Aston Villa have also joined the bandwagon of potential suitors.
Villa are currently operating with Douglas Luiz in the holding role, but the Brazilian international is courting heavy interest from Arsenal, who may yet return with a better offer in the summer after having a winter bid rejected by the Villans. Also, with Marvelous Nakamba sidelined due to a long-term injury, they will require a quality midfield reinforcement come summer.
To that end, signing someone with vast Premier League experience and high ceiling as Ndidi would certainly be a brilliant piece of business for Villa as they aim to build a competent team to break into the European spots under Gerrard.
The 25-year-old is under contract with the East Midlands outfit until 2024, and Rodgers will be reluctant to part ways with his key player. Whether Aston Villa can somehow prise the Nigerian star away from Leicester City in the summer remains to be seen.
