Few would doubt the fact that Aston Villa already have an exciting midfield to take into the Premier League but adding Valentin Rongier to that would push them even closer to staying up.

Le Quotidien Du Foot have claimed Villa and Southampton are both interested in signing the FC Nantes central midfielder, and his 2.4 key passes per game make it clear to see why he’d make such an impact for the Villans despite being surrounded by such talent.

The 24-year-old made 42 appearances in all competitions this season, making seven assists and scoring four goals. Now that’s not an eye-watering tally but stay with us. His 82% pass completion shows how well he’d be able to pick out whoever leads the line for the claret and blue cause next season.

Frankly, as good as the last few months for the Midlands giants have been, it's not hard to imagine the fact that the team will be in line than even less than the 53.4% possession they commanded over the course of the Championship campaign when playing top tier football. To that end, they'll need players who can use the ball effectively when they have it, and the reported target in question does seemingly have that quality.

Indeed, Who Scored also labels his set-piece-taking ability as one of his strengths, and there’s nothing like one of those to turn a game’s momentum on its head. Perhaps he can be the player to step up if the likes of Jack Grealish and John McGinn are having an off day.

Bringing in another exciting central-midfielder like Rongier will ensure Dean Smith has quite a few options in the engine room, as well as someone who can potentially add quality from set-piece delivery. That, for a promoted side, could be pretty invaluable.

Rongier’s traits won’t be something new to Villa’s set-up, but the likes of Grealish and McGinn have proved just how important a player he can be. Adding one more would ensure Villa always have a switched-on attacking midfielder to supply the forwards.

Villa fans, who do you think your team needs to sign this summer to ensure safety next season? Join the discussion by commenting below...