Aston Villa have become one of the more active clubs when it comes to being busy in the transfer market over the past few years.

The previous January window saw the Midlands club bring in five new players on permanent or loan deals as well as moving some other players out in the other direction.

However, one player that the Villans were not able to secure over the winter was Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Yves Bissouma.

After being mentioned with a potential £50m move away from the south coast club, Bissouma remained at Brighton and continues to play for Graham Potter's side.

Once the window had closed, Steven Gerrard revealed that Villa had a bid of £25m rejected for the Mali international.

Since arriving at Brighton back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Lille in a deal worth a reported fee of £15m, the midfielder has become a pivotal figure for the Seagulls.

With 120 appearances under his belt for the club across all competitions, the 25-year-old has chipped in with five goals and two assists.

To highlight how important he is for his side, no other Brighton midfielder has been able to match the combined total of tackles and interceptions (115) he's been able to rack up in this Premier League.

Labelled as an "exceptional" player in the past by Gary Lineker, Bissouma also showed during Brighton's recent 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur just what he's capable of on the pitch.

During the 90 minutes, the former Lille ace made four interceptions, three tackles, won seven of the nine duels he was involved in and completed all three dribbles he attempted.

This shows just how talented he is on and off the ball against an Antonio Conte team that, not long before, had put four goals past Gerrard's side at Villa Park.

This also led to Potter describing his player as being at "Champions League level" in terms of his performances on the pitch.

Moving forward, it would be sensible for the Villans and Johan Lange to not only reignite their interest in Bissouma but to not consider giving Brighton the money that they would want for him.

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