Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard is so intrigued by the Atletico Madrid’s French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia that he personally flew over to the Spanish capital to watch the midfielder in action against Manchester City.Gerrard’s long-standing attempts to strengthen his midfield options have led to an interest in several options, with Leeds’s Kalvin Phillips, Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara and Sunderland’s Dan Neil all linked with a move to Villa Park.Steven Gerrard shuts Gary Neville up on Messi vs Ronaldo debate.🐐 pic.twitter.com/QkHIshJAyv— LOAL (@loal_worldwide) April 14, 2022 However, neither of those players seems interesting to Gerrard as the former Valencia man Kongdobia. His physical presence and strength are precisely the attributes Gerrard wants to add to his side for the next season.Kondogbia played 90 minutes in the game against City on Wednesday. He displayed all the traits that Gerrard would want in a player of this profile, as he recorded 58 touches, 23 pressures, two tackles, three progressive passes and led the side in progressive passes and recoveries.Kondogbia to #avfc would be a yes from me. Among 88 La Liga CM’s in 21/22:🔹Duels won: 7th🔹Successful defensive actions p90: 3rd🔹Defensive duel win %: 8th🔹19th in dribble success rate🔹17th in pass accuracy🔹86th percentile in aerials wonAge (29) only minor concern pic.twitter.com/KwRC1Y0qZ1— Mark Oldacres (@MarkOldacres) April 15, 2022 The 29-year-old is contracted at Atletico until 2024 and would probably cost around $20 million should Atleti boss Diego Simeone decide to let the Frenchman leave.The Birmingham club should be quick with their business because Tottenham Hotspur have also been enquiring about Kongdobia in the past year.
