The Birmingham Mail report that recently taken-over Aston Villa are in the market for players, with new man-at-the-helm Dr Tony Xia said to be laying aside £50m for player recruitment.
One player said to be firmly in Villa’s sights is Senegal midfielder Cheikh N’Doye, who currently plies his trade in France’s Ligue 1 competition for Angers.
N’Doye, who arrived at Angers on a free transfer at the start of this past season, is contracted to the French side until the end of June 2017 but the Birmingham Mail say that the 30-year-old, who is highly-rated in France, is “thought to want to move to England” and Angers are said to be “keen to cash in” rather than run the risk of him leaving on a free when his contract runs out.
6ft 3in N’Doye, who also captains Angers, is a deep-laying defensively-minded central midfielder with an eye for goal. Prior to signing on with current side Angers, N’Doye proved that he knew where the net was with Ligue 2 side US Créteil-Lusitanos, scoring 21 goals in the 80 appearances that he made.
What Villa fans can expect on a typical per 90 minute basis from Cheikh N’Doye
- Shots: 2.1 per 90 (0.5 on target)
- Dribbles: 1.4 per 90 (0.6 successful)
- Possession Loss: 3.0 per 90 (1.8 dispossessed)
- Aerial Duels: 10.3 per 90 (6.9 won)
- Pass Attempts: 35.4 per 90 (23.3 accurate)
- Key Passes (setting up shots): 0.8 per 90
- Tackle Attempts: 2.7 per 90 (1.9 successful)
- Interceptions: 1.1 per 90
- Clearances: 2.8 per 90
- Defensive Blocks: 1.0 per 90 (0.7 passes blocked)
With Villa wanting a quick return to the top flight then a goal-scoring midfield anchor with top flight experience in Ligue 1 is a player who’d do them well at Championship level in the first instance, and Premier League should they make an immediate return to the big time.