Aston Villa are reportedly eager to secure the signing of talented Stoke City youngster Souleymane Sidibe this summer.
The 18-year-old has come through the youth ranks at Stoke and made 13 appearances at senior level last season, while he’s been capped 11 times by the England U18s.
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It appears as though he’s certainly made a positive impression as he continues his development with the Championship side, as according to The Telegraph’s John Percy, he’s attracted serious interest from Villa who are keen to prise him away from the Potters this summer.
He adds that we may well face competition for Sidibe’s signature in another indication that he’s shown great potential and is a sough-after young player with a promising future ahead of him, and Villa are said to have a strong interest in staying ahead of the competition and bringing him to the club.
Sidibe is a physical and athletic midfielder who covers plenty of ground and quickly, while he pairs his physical attributes, defensive tenacity and qualities with composure and an eye for a pass in possession, and so it’s easy to see why Villa are said to be setting their sights on him.
Time will tell if a move ultimately materialises, but it would undoubtedly be in keeping with the transfer strategy we’ve seen Villa adopt in recent windows, as we’ve shown a desire to acquire talented youngsters who can either break into the first-team squad under Unai Emery, or perhaps represent a future profit when we try to balance our books with PSR in mind.
Firstly, it remains to be seen if we can get a deal done to sign Sidibe, but if it goes through, it will be fascinating to see if we keep the French-born midfielder in-house and oversee his development more directly, or if we feel as though he would benefit from a loan elsewhere to continue to gain valuable experience at a high level and keep improving with regular playing time.
Further, if it is the latter option, that would of course help get more eyes on him, and so although we want to see young players get opportunities at Villa to show that they can make a breakthrough and impress under Emery, it’s a fast-changing landscape on and off the pitch, and so it will be interesting to see if we bring in the starlet, what our intentions, both short-term and long-term, are for him.
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