Aston Villa look to the Serie A and Juventus to bolster the midfield

Aston Villa are looking to complete one or two more deals before the transfer window closes. Reported to be on their list of potential buys is Juventus midfielder, Rodrigo Bentancur.

It seems that midfielders are high on the priority list in the Premier League for this January transfer window. Especially midfielders from Serie A, particularly from Juventus’s first-team roster.

First, there was Aaron Ramsey who was linked to Newcastle, amongst other clubs. Then, there was Arthur Melo who is still being linked with a possible move to Arsenal.

Now, according to Fabrizio Romano and other sources, Aston Villa are reportedly having discussions of adding Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur to their already busy transfer window.

What Can Bentancur Contribute?

Bentancur has been with Juventus since July of 2017, playing mostly as a holding midfielder. His form peaked considerably under Maurizio Sarri’s one-year stint with the club during the 2019-20 season, becoming a consistent workhorse.

Since then, however, the 24-year-old’s form has cooled, only starting 12 of Juventus’s 22 matches in Serie A under Max Allegri this term. So why are Steven Gerrard and Villa interested?

According to Sky Sports, Gerrard believes the Uruguayan midfielder will provide further competition for the Villan’s roster, in particular, for Douglas Luiz.

The Ambitions of Aston Villa

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Aston Villa have been quite ambitious this January. Perhaps the most ambitious out of all the Premier League clubs so far.

Steven Gerrard had made his plans of qualifying for European competition quite clear and the Villa board have shown no hesitation in backing him.

Their most attention-grabbing signing has been Philippe Coutinho, who took a pay cut to leave Barcelona in order to join his former Reds teammate, Gerrard, at Villa Park. Last week in Villa’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United, Coutinho made his stunning debut, coming on as a super-sub and providing the Villans with a goal and an assist to steal a point from Manchester United.

Next, Villa signed left-back Lucas Digne from Everton, beating Chelsea to his signature by willingly paying the £25 million price tag. Then came goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who is currently on loan from Roma for six months.

To really solidify their goalkeeping positioning, Villa signed their current goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, for another five and a half years — he has been nothing but a top stalwart for the team.

All this movement begs the question, what else could Gerrard and Villa have up their sleeves to finish out the month of January?