Journalist Ashley Preece has provided his thoughts on Aston Villa's reported interest in PSV Eindhoven midfielder, Ibrahim Sangare.

What's the word?

In a Q and A for Birmingham Mail, the Villa correspondent hinted that the Cote d'Ivoire international is a player who is seemingly on the radar of the Midlands outfit, albeit with it yet to be seen if there is firm interest in the 24-year-old.

Asked about any potential approach for the former Toulouse man, after manager Steven Gerrard was seen watching PSV in action against Leicester City last season, Preece stated: "Yep, spot on re SG being at PSV-Leicester mate; Sangare is one that has been mentioned in circles at Villa but nothing more.

"A lot of interest in him. I don't know if Villa has an interest in that one. I'm sure they would have acted now if they did. We'll have to see."

This follows a recent report from Football Insider who claim that both the Villans and Leicester have enquired about a deal for the 17-cap gem, with the Eredivisie outfit reportedly set to demand more than £20m for his signature.

Supporters will love

As Preece alluded to, it may still be unclear as to whether Gerrard and co will make a concrete approach for the £27k-per-week ace, although the 6 foot 3 menace seemingly fits the mould of the type of player that the club are chasing, amid reports that the Premier League side are still keen on adding another midfielder this summer.

Despite having already signed Boubacar Kamara from Marseille on a free transfer, it would appear that the centre of the park is an area that the club are keen to strengthen further, with Sangare no doubt set to add real quality competition to the current options.

The £21.6m-rated colossus has been in sparkling form in Holland of late, notably netting three goals and providing two assists in 29 league outings last term from his defensive midfield berth, while also recording an impressive 86% pass completion rate.

Not only an asset in possession, he is perhaps more widely regarded for his ball-winning ability, having averaged a remarkable 3.3 tackles and 2.6 interceptions per 90 in the 2021/22 campaign, while also winning 74% of his aerial duels and 63% of his total duels.

That stunning form unsurprisingly saw the Koumassi-born brute record an eye-catching 7.38 average match rating, as per SofaScore, with that figure the fourth-highest among the PSV squad.

Such a dominant, imposing figure would seemingly thrive in English football, with supporters set to love seeing him at his brilliant, destructive best if sporting director Johan Lange manages to get his man this summer.

So long left without a genuine holding midfielder last term - leaving Douglas Luiz to take up a makeshift, defensive role - Sangare could well be the man to fill that void.

AND in other news, Lange eyeing Villa move for £30m “goalscoring machine”, he’d be their own Darwin Nunez