Aston Villa and their owners have shown in the past, and throughout the current January transfer window, that they are not shy when it comes to spending big amounts of money on bringing new players to the club such as Lucas Digne, Emi Buendia, Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins among others.

With that in mind, one man who could follow in the footsteps of these players and make his way to Villa Park in the future is Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma, who has been linked with a move to the Midlands in recent weeks.

Having been tipped to become a "massive asset" for Brighton by Dale Stephens in his early months at the club, Bissouma has certainly lived up to that expectation with WhoScored currently listing the midfielder as the Seagulls' highest-rated player this season, with an overall performance rating of 7.13/10.

This rating would make the Mali international, who is currently picking up £29k-per-week according to Salary Sport, Villa's third-highest rated player by the same metric behind Digne and John McGinn, showing that he is capable of playing at a high level.

Gerrard would love Bissouma at Villa

Taking this into account, Gerrard would surely love to see Villa's owners splash the cash once again to sign an experienced and talented player such as Bissouma.

You only need to look at the heroic defensive statistics that he has posted in the Premier League this season, with 3.6 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game. He ranks higher than any other Villa player for the former metric and is a close second to Digne for the latter.

With deadline day approaching, Villa may not be able to pull off a transfer for the 25-year-old before the end of the month. However, with the summer in mind, the £22.5m-rated beast should definitely be high on Johan Lange's priority list given how he will be entering the final year of his current contract at Brighton, who may then be willing to negotiate a deal for their midfield maestro.

Also, with the future of Douglas Luiz under some speculation at the moment, if he were to leave Villa any time soon, this would only enhance the club's need to add a midfielder of Bissouma's ilk to their squad.

In other news: Gregg Evans drops fresh Aston Villa January update which will have Gerrard buzzing