Aston Villa linked player is 'one of the top players in world football'

Wilfred Ndidi has been linked with a move to Aston Villa ahead of the summer transfer window.

The Leicester City midfielder, who has been at the King Power Stadium since 2017, has established himself as one of the best holding midfielders in the Premier League in that time.

Villa and Steven Gerrard are keen to add a new defensive midfielder after failing to agree a deal with Brighton for Yves Bissouma in the January transfer window, and reports have emerged that Ndidi is a fresh £50m transfer target for the Lions when the summer window - Gerrard’s first summer at the club - opens.

Ndidi himself has been a key player for Brendan Rodgers in the recent seasons as the Foxes have established themselves as regular top six occupants, and he has a contract for another couple of years following the end of this current season.

Ndidi, a Nigerian international, has spoken previously of his contentment in the East Midlands, though it remains to be seen whether or not he might be attracted to leave his current top flight club for another - as Villa were able to secure with Lucas Digne and Calum Chambers.

“We are doing well and I am enjoying myself here,” Ndidi said last year. “I still have a contract with Leicester. I am learning and trying to improve myself every day and I am doing OK here, so no need to go anywhere.”

Rodgers, who is currently suffering perhaps the most difficult run of form of his Leicester managerial career at the moment, has also sung the praises of Ndidi previously.

He rates the midfield enforcer so highly that he deems Ndidi to be among the very best.

“He’s one of the top players in world football,” said Rodgers last year. “His quality in his football is improving all the time.

“He is irreplaceable for