'Gerrard has demanded...' - Journalist claims Aston Villa eyeing 'top-class' star

Aston Villa could land Yannick Carrasco this summer with Steven Gerrard demanding the signings of top-class players at Villa Park. 

This is what football journalist Pete O’Rourke has suggested when speaking to This Is Futbol about Villa’s plans for the summer.

According to reports, Villa are one of three Premier League clubs to have shown an interest in bringing in Carrasco this summer, with just two years remaining on his current deal with Atletico Madrid.

The versatile Belgian made 34 La Liga appearances under Diego Simeone in the 2021/22 campaign, which saw him provide his side with six goals and six assists (via Transfermarkt).

Having already made four additions this summer, O’Rourke fully expects Villa to be in the mix for players such as Carrasco as this transfer window develops.

He said: “Gerrard has demanded that they’re going after the same top-class players, which Carrasco definitely is, to try and improve this squad and have Villa challenging for maybe a top-six finish or something.

“So I think they’ve shown before with the likes of Coutinho and everything else that Villa will be in the market for these top-class players.”

TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…

This would certainly feel like another big addition to Gerrard’s plans at Villa Park, with Philippe Coutinho seemingly the player purchased to convince others of his plans.

Coutinho has made the jump from playing for Bayern Munich and Barcelona to return to the Premier League with Villa, which could well prove to be a persuading factor for others to follow suit.

However, with Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur also credited with an interest in the Belgian, it will be interesting to see whether Villa are able to compete with those two clubs to land the