Aston Villa have held a fresh round of negotiations with Marseille's Boubacar Kamara ahead of the summer transfer window, as per a report from The Daily Mail's Simon Jones and Lee Davey.

The lowdown

Villa are able to negotiate pre-contract terms with the 22-year-old, whose deal is due to expire in the summer. Marseille, who 'desperately need' to reduce their wage bill, are resigned to losing the player.

Kamara is predominantly a defensive midfielder but he can also play as a centre-back, while Steven Gerrard and Villa chief executive Christian Purslow watched him in action against Nantes last month.

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-updates/" title="Aston Villa latest updates!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The latest

The Daily Mail's report states that Villa have held 'further talks' with the player's entourage. Atletico Madrid are also courting Kamara, but he has expressed a desire to play in the Premier League.

Villa want to address the defensive midfield position quickly and also have Atletico's Geoffrey Kondogbia, Brighton's Yves Bissouma and Leeds' Kalvin Phillips on their shortlist.

Once that position is resolved, sporting director Johan Lange can then move on to adding another defender and a striker.

The verdict

Would Gerrard have been impressed by what he saw from Kamara on 20 April?

The statistics from Sofascore certainly suggest so. The Frenchman was at the centre of the action that night, recording the second-most touches (124) in the match behind Arsenal loanee William Saliba (125).

He was solid out of possession, winning six of the nine duels that he contested, and also effective with the ball. Kamara successfully completed six out of eight long passes and 104 overall (94% accuracy), created a 'big chance' and even won a penalty for his team. It was truly an all-action display.

The £22.5m-rated maestro has been billed as 'one of the best youngsters in Europe' by European football expert Alex Barker, so his signing would surely be greeted with great excitement by Villa fans if the club can pull it off.

In other news, Steven Gerrard has made a 'very important' addition.