According to Le10Sport, Milan have made an offer for reported Aston Villa transfer target Mohamed Simakan.

What's the story?

Reports over the summer suggested that Dean Smith's side were very much interested in landing the Strasbourg centre-half, with his agent revealing last month that he expects the Premier League side, as well as other clubs, to make a move for him in January.

He said: "There were many teams on Simakan – Lyon, Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund. I think these clubs, including AC Milan, will try to push again (in January). The boy has picked up where he left off, showing his qualities, and it is possible his admirers will also increase."

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And now, French publication Le10Sport have claimed that Serie A giants Milan have made the first post-transfer window move to sign the 6 foot 2 defender, and that whilst they've seen an initial bid rejected, are prepared to make a fresh approach.

Better than Konsa

At just 20, Simakan is a couple of years younger than Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa, who's been Smith's preferred partner alongside Tyrone Mings.

And when you look at both of their performances for their respective teams this season, Simakan looks like the kind of prospect who the Villa boss should play next to Mings.

As per Sofascore, Simakan has won an impressive 2.2 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game in Ligue 1, whilst he wins 6.1 duels per match too, at an astounding success rate of 61%. Konsa, on the other hand, has averaged three times as less tackles, and less than half the amount of interceptions, whilst he only wins only marginally more duels at 6.7.

His agent added: "Mohamed is a class of 2000 who can play as a central defender or as a right-back. He has great strength, technically good, but his main gift is power and explosiveness."

With Milan already making it clear that they mean business, it's up to Johan Lange to make sure Villa aren't left behind in the race to sign him.