Aston Villa have been using the summer transfer window to strengthen their team ahead of the new Premier League season, and Steven Gerrard will be hoping his five new recruits will make a positive impact on the team when the Villains return to action next month.
Gerrard has not had a full season at Villa Park yet after joining mid-season to replace long-term manager Dean Smith but made a good impact on the side who were on a trajectory leading them into relegation concerns after losing five consecutive games in a row and sitting in 16th two points off the bottom three.
Under the former Rangers manager’s guidance, the team managed a 14th place finish in the Premier League but after his first taste of managerial success following a title win with Rangers the manager will surely not be content with a mid-table finish next season.
As a result, Gerrard will be hoping that the team he has built over the January and summer transfer window will be enough to put Aston Villa in a good position to compete, but there’s a chance that they’re not done adding quality to their team over this transfer window.
One player who Aston Villa are speculated to be interested in is Chelsea youngster Conor Gallagher who is reportedly valued at £50m, and if Gerrard can convince the midfielder to make a move to the Midlands it could be a major coup for the manager.
Conor Gallagher has been attracting a lot of attention after his season-long loan with Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace, and was a stand-out performer in the team, winning Young Player of the Year at the London Football Awards.
Over 34 league appearances the 22-year-old who was hailed a “joy to watch” by Conor Gallagher, scored eight goals, delivered three assists and created five big chances, making 1.1 key passes, two tackles and won 5.9 duels per game, as well as completing the majority of his dribbles (57%).
In fact, Gerrard could even land his very own Jude Bellingham by signing Gallagher as the Borussia Dortmund wonderkid was one of the most comparable players to the Blues midfielder over last season, according to FBref.
Should Villa sign Conor Gallagher?
Despite the midfield pair offering the same amount of goal contributions (11), Gallagher had a much better shot on target accuracy (42.3%), won more tackles (44) and completed more pressures (22).
With that being said, if Gallagher is available for another loan spell in the upcoming season Gerrard and the powers at Villa Park should do all they can to sign up the midfielder as he could make a huge difference in the team if he can emulate his form displayed at Crystal Palace.
AND in other news: Villa given green light to sign 44-goal “massive talent”, he’s better than Chukwuemeka
