Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard are seemingly still not content with the current state of their squad, as they target Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.
Villa have already had a very impressive window, adding Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho to Gerrard’s squad this month.
However, according to Daily Mail sports journalist Tom Collomosse, the midlands club have started negotiations with Juventus in order to bring 24-year-old Bentancur to the Premier League in January.
Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus) a target for Villa – discussions underway. Gerrard has been looking for a holding midfielder and the Uruguayan is a prominent target #avfc
— Tom Collomosse (@TomCollomosse) January 22, 2022
Collomosse reports that Gerrard is after an improvement in defensive midfield, deeming Douglas Luiz to not be good enough for the way he wants his team to play.
In today’s tight 1-0 win over out of form Everton, Luiz was supported by John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey, but if Gerrard wants to justify playing with one holding six and effectively two box to box midfielders. then he will need to upgrade the current options in the middle of the park.
Bentancur is one of a number of midfielders at Juventus who are unsure about their future at the club. While Bentancur is getting a significant number of minutes it is likely that Juventus see him as expendable given their current financial restraints which mean the Turin side will need to release some players.
The Uruguayan has been capped 45 times by his country, so has the type of pedigree Gerrard is after in his centre midfield.