Gerrard can finally axe “frustrating” Villa dud by signing "unplayable" £40m target - opinion

Aston Villa used 31 players in the 2021/22 Premier League season, leaving only Everton (33) having deployed more throughout the campaign.

One of those 31 players who didn’t get too many minutes on the pitch compared to others at Villa Park is Morgan Sanson.

Making just 10 league appearances in the previous campaign, the midfielder only started three games and racked up fewer minutes than the likes of Anwar El Ghazi, Kortney Hause and Axel Tuanzebe.

This makes his chances of getting regular football next season look rather slim, given how Steven Gerrard didn’t select the Frenchman to play in any of Villa’s final eight league matches of the campaign.

With that in mind, the remaining weeks of the summer transfer window could give the Villans the ideal opportunity to get rid of the 27-year-old and bring in a new midfielder who would stand a better chance of becoming a regular figure in the team.

One such player who has been linked with a move to Villa Park and who could fit this bill is West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek.

Having made 83 Premier League appearances for the Hammers, this experience could make it easier for the midfielder to hit the ground running for Villa – something that Sanson hasn’t been able to do, having made just 20 appearances for the club since his arrival in January 2021.

In fact, the injury issues that the Frenchman had at the start of his time in the Midlands were described as “frustrating” by then-Villa manager Dean Smith.

Also, with the West Ham colossus finding the net 18 times in 101 appearances for the Irons, he could offer a better attacking threat for Gerrard’s side than Sanson, who hasn’t been able to either score a goal or provide an assist for the Villans.

Former Villa winger Yannick Bolasie