Following the earlier addition of former Manchester City duo Micah Richards and Scott Sinclair, Aston Villa made Idrissa Gueye their third new signing of the summer, with the midfielder joining from Lille for a fee believed to be in the region of £9 million. The Senegal international has penned a four-year contract at Villa Park.
After securing the 25-year-old’s signature, Villa boss Tim Sherwood explained he is looking to get the most out of the versatile Gueye’s attacking potential in the season ahead:
“Idrissa is a good acquisition to the squad. He has the same energy as Fabian Delph. He’s similar to Ramires. He can play flexible as well – as a No 6 in a sitting midfield role or as a No 8 box to box. Idrissa can do both of them. He wants to get the shackles off really and get box to box. That’s what he’s looking to do and we’re happy for him to do that. He wanted to come to the Premier League. He had a few options but we were delighted he decided to join us.”
THE HISTORY
Gueye joined the Lille academy in 2008, having begun his footballing education at Diambars in his native Senegal. He spent the next three seasons playing for the ‘B’ side, before making his first-team debut during the 2010/11 campaign. The midfielder would go on to make 11 appearances as Lille won a league and cup double, with the likes of Eden Hazard and Yohan Cabaye starring for the French outfit.
Cabaye’s departure to Newcastle allowed Gueye to establish himself in the midfield, and he subsequently made 25 appearances during the 2011/12 campaign. The Senegal international would make a further 29 appearances the following season, before becoming a key player during the past two seasons.
In the 2014/15 campaign, Gueye scored four goals, having only previously found the net once during his time in France, and also registered two assists, triggering reported interest from the likes of Marseille and Premier League sides Southampton, West Ham and Crystal Palace.
Gueye made his international debut in 2011 and has since racked up 23 appearances for Senegal, although he has yet to open his account for his country. He started all three matches in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
THE PROSPECTS
With Fabian Delph now departed after his dramatic U-turn and last season’s loanee Tom Cleverley moving to Everton, Sherwood desperately needs to bolster his options in the centre of the park.
Gueye certainly looks an assured starter for the Villains, either in a two or three-man central midfield. Sherwood has recently utilised 4-3-3 and 4-4-1-1 formations in pre-season and the latter system could see Gueye partnered by Ashley Westwood or Carlos Sanchez, with all three likely to start in a 4-3-3 unless their manager strengthens his midfield options further.
Utilised in a 4-1-2-1-2 set-up at Lille last term, the new boy averaged an effort every 78.1 minutes – granted, that’s hardly spectacular, but, as we saw upon his arrival at Villa Park, Sherwood’s attacking approach should boost his players’ prospects in the final third. Three of Delph’s four assists for the season and all three of Cleverley’s goals were produced under the new manager from Gameweek 26 onwards.
Compared to France legend Jean Tigana by former Senegal head coach Alan Giresse, Guyeye’s ball-winning ability will also be vital for Villa – he made a total of 100 tackles in Ligue 1 last season.
Costing 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Gueye will set you back the same price as wingers Scott Sinclair and Charles N’Zogbia, who will be competing for the wide positions along with the 5.5-priced Jack Grealish if Sherwood opts for a front three. Grealish’s recent injury absence has allowed Sinclair the chance to stake a claim for a starting berth, whilst Christian Benteke’s departure could even see the former Swansea man handed spot-kicks. Clearly, at that price, he could be an ideal fifth midfielder if he can convince Sherwood he’s worthy of a regular role, though there are still some question marks over Sinclair’s minutes once Sherwood has a fully fit squad. Westwood is the cheapest Villa midfielder at 4.5, and looks fairly assured of starts – despite a deep-lying role, he does have some set-piece duties in the locker, which has helped him rack up ten assists over the last three seasons.
With Delph, Benteke and Ron Vlaar all gone, though, Sherwood’s next few acquisition will go some way to determining our opinions on the Midlands outfit for the season ahead. Certainly, the Villa boss will set up his team to play with the handbrake off and Gueye may well arrive on our radars if he benefits in the same way as Delph and Cleverley prospered in the latter stages of the previous campaign.
Looking at the schedule, Villa’s opening schedule is very favourable, with the home clash against Man United in Gameweek 2 the only difficult fixture in the first six weeks of the season (bou, cpl, SUN, lei, WBA). That should provide us with the ideal opportunity to see how Gueye adapts to English football, though with Grealish just 0.5 dearer, the former Lille man has some way to go to establish himself as the most viable pick amongst Sherwood’s midfield charges.
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