Steven Gerrard is planning a revolution at Aston Villa, especially when you consider his recent signings. The likes of Philippe Coutinho, Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara could all instantly improve the first-team squad and will hopefully be able to help the club in their European ambitions next year.

A disappointing 14th-placed finish in the Premier League will drive Gerrard on to reaching bigger and better things with Villa. There is no doubting his managerial ability, having taken Rangers from the doldrums to arguably the most important top-flight title in their history, so the onus is on him to achieve things with the Midlands club as well.

In order to achieve this, certain players may need to be sold or replaced, and one such instance is Douglas Luiz.

The defensive midfielder was signed from Manchester City for £15m in 2019, and despite impressing under Dean Smith, it looks like Gerrard may want to bring in his own players and rejig the squad to his liking.

Ashley Preece dubbed Luiz as Villa’s biggest “issue” in February following a match against Newcastle where he lost possession 10 times, as it appeared that the manager had made a big mistake in the transfer window.

That mistake was not bringing in Yves Bissouma to replace the £52k-p/w Brazilian, and Gerrard really needs to make amends in the summer transfer window.

Axe Luiz, sign Bissouma

Bissouma ranked second in the Brighton squad this season with an average rating of 6.99 on WhoScored and was described as “unreal” by BBC writer Raj Chohan as he contributed heavily to helping the club achieve their highest-ever finish in the Premier League.

Despite signing one midfielder in Kamara on a free transfer, journalist Fabrice Hawkins claims that Villa are “still there” regarding a potential move for Bissouma, who could seriously strengthen the midfield area in Gerrard's line-up.

The Mali international features in the top 9% of positional peers in the big five European leagues for pass completion (89.7%) and the top 10% for dribbles completed per 90 minutes (1.32).

These figures prove that he can regularly dominate the midfield with his superb passing ability, while also contributing towards attacks with his dribbling skills, which are two key components for Gerrard’s style to work effectively.

AND in other news, Gerrard must brutally axe “fortunate” AVFC dud in deal for “astonishing” £25m monster