Aston Villa could offer Danny Ings to Brighton in a swap deal for Yves Bissouma, according to The Mirror's Neil Moxley.

The lowdown

Steven Gerrard publicly admitted that Villa had seen a bid for the Mali international rejected in January, and The Guardian reported on Friday that the 41-year-old remains keen to add a defensive midfielder to his ranks ahead of the 2022/23 season.

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Football Insider recently reported that Brighton had identified Ings as a summer transfer target.

It was only last summer that Villa paid £25m to sign him from Southampton, but the Englishman has posted a rather underwhelming tally of five goals so far in the Midlands.

The latest

Moxley wrote in The Mirror that Ings is one of the players who may be deemed surplus to requirements by Villa this summer.

The sources to whom the journalist has spoken have not 'ruled out' the possibility of a swap deal, with the 29-year-old potentially being offloaded to Brighton in exchange for Bissouma.

The verdict

According to The Athletic's Stuart James, straight swaps are 'unusual' in football, but such a deal could be feasible here.

Villa's £25m offer for Bissouma may have been turned down in January, but by the time we reach July, the Malian will have less than year left on his contract. Brighton know that, at the start of next year, he will be negotiate pre-contract terms with clubs from outside the UK, so the pressure may be on to cash in this summer unless they can negotiate a renewal.

Ings is valued at £19.8m by Transfermarkt, so the players' valuations could be close enough for Brighton to accept a straight exchange deal without demanding cash on top.

Noel Whelan has hailed Ings as a 'phenomenal finisher', but he has yet to truly hit top form at Villa, with this season on course to be leanest in front of goal since 2018/19. Therefore, it might not be entirely surprising if the 29-year-old is used as bait to try and land Bissouma.

In other news, Andy Hinchliffe believes this Villa player cost his team on Saturday