Aston Villa have been linked with RB Leipzig’s Konrad Laimer since the summer began, with the midfielder reportedly idolising Steven Gerrard as a child.

It would therefore make perfect sense for the Villa manager to tempt this highly-rated 25-year-old to the English Midlands, enhancing what is already a stacked midfield selection.

The Villans’ links to the Austria international intensified at the start of July, when the Premier League club were reportedly preparing a bid for the player. However, the Bundesliga outfit have slapped a €30m (£24m) price tag on the midfielder, as he only has a year left on his contract.

Perhaps if they could ramp up the pressure on RB Leipzig and Gerrard could charm one of his biggest fans, the Midlands outfit could acquire a very classy midfielder.

Laimer has been a regular for RB Leipzig and featured in 42 games across all competitions last season. Despite being largely a defensive-minded player, he still racked up an impressive 11 goal contributions.

An injection of extra goals from midfield, along with consistency and reliability, would make for a fine addition to any team.

Laimer's average SofaScore rating of 6.93 further supports his consistency, as he was imperative to RB Leipzig’s fourth-place finish and DFB-Pokal win.

Perhaps he could bring that trophy-winning mindset to Villa Park and help the club to win their first major honour since 1996.

His international team-mate and former Premier League forward Marco Arnautovic was full of praise for Laimer after a Euro 2020 qualifying win over North Macedonia, saying that "to cover that amount of ground is crazy", adding that the 25-year-old "has a huge future".

In fact, the Leipzig powerhouse ranks in the 99th percentile for pressures per 90 among positional peers in Europe's top five leagues, outlining him as one of the hardest workers in the game. To nicely complement this industriousness, he also sits in the 90th percentile for non-penalty goals and the 88th percentile for progressive carries.

It seems that the Austrian can do it all, and if Villa are able to beat off the competition for Laimer, it would prove a phenomenal coup. Perhaps he could fulfil Arnautovic's "huge future" comments at Villa Park and help Gerrard to take this club back into Europe.

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