Gerrard gets his wish, big tactical switch: Interesting Aston Villa rumour emerges - opinion

According to The Mirror, Aston Villa could look to swap Danny Ings for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma during the summer transfer window.

Ings made the move to Villa from Southampton last year, and while he has not been a total failure, the Midlands outfit will have expected more given the £25m they spent to capture his services. Two of his five goals came in the first two Premier League games of the campaign, meaning he has only managed three in the subsequent 21 top-flight outings.

Now, it is being reported Villa may look to cut their losses and use Ings to capture midfield target Bissouma. The Brighton midfielder is hot property, having attracted interest from across the Premier League, but the south coast side’s struggles in front of goal this term – only Burnley and Norwich City have found the back of the net on fewer occasions – may convince them to take Ings in exchange for their prized asset.

What impact could Ings’ potential departure – and a Bissouma arrival – have on Villa? We take a look at two possible consequences.

Interestingly, it has been claimed that Gerrard is desperate to sign a deep-lying midfielder so that Douglas Luiz can operate higher up the field. Therefore, Bissouma could be the man to give Gerrard what he and Luiz want.

This term, Villa rank 13th amongst the 20 Premier League clubs in terms of tackles won on average per game. If the Villans really do want to move up the table, they may need to add a bit more bite into the middle of the park to go with the flair players they possess.

Bissouma has averaged 3.1 tackles per game in the league this term, which is only bettered by Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi (min. 15 apps). He also sits in the top 10 in the interceptions table, too, which