Aston Villa could start "making offers" for players, according to journalist Dean Jones, with the club linked to £35m midfielder Manu Kone.
Are Villa interested in Kone?
One of the names hot on the lips of transfer experts everywhere is Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Manu Kone, with the young Frenchman having been linked with a move away from the Bundesliga this summer.
Even Gladbach's director of football has admitted as much, telling kicker (via 90min): "Our attitude is well-known. If there are sums involved that a club like Borussia has to think about, we will do it."
Gladbach have already lost Marcus Thuram to Inter, Ramy Bensebaini to Borussia Dortmund and Lars Stindl to Karlsruher, all on free transfers, and are expected to have to cash in on some of their saleable assets this summer.
This will likely be great news for clubs around Europe, one of whom might be Aston Villa.
According to Dean Jones, Unai Emery's side could start making offers for unsettled players, one of which could be Kone.
He told GIVEMESPORT: "There's been a lot of umming and ahing over targets like Manu Kone, and I feel like at some point Villa are just going to go in there and start making offers for these players to really give them something to think about and see if those other clubs react."
Having been frequently linked with Liverpool, although a move to Anfield is now "unlikely", Villa would have to fend off some of the world's biggest clubs to acquire the 22-year-old's signature. It would certainly be a huge statement of intent if Emery could lure him to Villa Park.
Why do Villa want Kone?
Currently at the U21 European Championship with France, Kone enjoyed an impressive season in an underperforming Borussia Monchengladbach team that slumped to 10th under Daniel Farke.
A robust defensive-midfielder, Kone, who has been hailed as a "one man army", is something of an all-rounder in the centre of park, excluding goals and assists.
Compared to other Bundesliga midfielders last season, Kone made 1.28 tackles in the defensive third per 90 (top 10%), 2.55 overall tackles per 90 (top 18%) and 1.52 blocks per 90 (top 25%), highlighting his ability to win the ball back and stop danger.
He also boasts a good passing ability, sitting in the top 9% for average passing accuracy (86.2%), and he very rarely loses the ball, being dispossessed just 1.73 times per 90.
One of his key strengths is his dribbling ability and press resistance, sitting in the top 11% per 90 for successful take-ons, carries and progressive carry distance. This would be incredibly useful for someone like Villa, given the high-intensity pressing of many Premier League teams.