Steven Gerrard reveals Morgan Sanson 'frustration' and makes Aston Villa transfer admission

Latest Aston Villa news via BirminghamLive brings you a look at Morgan Sanson’s situation at Villa Park with the Frenchman yet to make Gerrard’s 20-man squads so far this season

Ashley Preece Local Democracy Reporter

22:30, 19 Aug 2022

Steven Gerrard has admitted Morgan Sanson is “frustrated” at his lack of game time. The Frenchman has failed to make the bench for Aston Villa's two opening games this season against Bournemouth and Everton.

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Two weeks ago, the midfielder posted a rather cryptic Instagram message not long after Gerrard named his team on the opening day. Sanson, who was left out of the squad against Scott Parker's Cherries, said: “100% fit [tick] and ready for the team… [wink].” Despite a decent pre-season, though, the ex-Marseille man has fallen out of favour under Gerrard with his last competitive appearance in a Villa shirt coming in the defeat against Wolves way back at the beginning of April. Sanson, who cost £15 million in January 2021, has failed to feature in Villa's last 10 Premier League matches.

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BirminghamLive quizzed Gerrard on Sanson’s future at the club, to which the head coach confirmed that should an offer come in prior to the transfer deadline then he and Villa will not stand in his way. “Morgan's been very professional, he's been calm, he's been training well but, at the same time, he's frustrated with his game time,” Gerrard outlined. “I respect that, I understand that so, if something lands for Morgan that he wants to pursue, we won't stand in his way. At the same time, he's training well and is pushing to be back in the frame.”

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Prior to Villa jetting out to Australia in July, Gerrard confirmed via an in-house interview that he was still interested in further strengthening his midfield department despite the signing of Boubacar Kamara. Asked if that’s still the case with a No.8 particularly of interest, Gerrard replied: “We're still analysing the three units in our system; forward line, the midfield line and, certainly now, from a defensive point of view [given Diego Carlos injury]. We were really set in that [defensive] department but, obviously, we're deciding and are talking now about whether we should do something there.”

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Gerrard has also opened up about another player desperate for regular game time, Kortney Hause, with the centre-back extensively linked with a loan switch to Watford following his return from a knee injury.

“[Adding a new centre-back] is certainly a possibility and it’s something we’re analysing,” Gerrard continued. “And the reason we’re analysing it is because of Kortney's situation and we want to be respectful to him. He’s made it quite clear he would like to go out and play regular football. All these things are on the table and up for discussions.

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“But we’ll do what’s right for Aston Villa and I’ll make decisions from there. I want to try and make players happy and to try to be respectful to every individual. The priority is to make the squad as strong as we possibly can moving forward.

“If that means making an addition and the right person is available and the deal makes sense for Aston Villa we’ll have no qualms in executing that. At the same time there’s a few spinning plates and moving pieces in the next coming days while the window is still open.”

Pushed on any imminent exits at Villa given those that aren’t in Villa’s plans at present - Bertrand Traore, Frederic Guilbert, Anwar El Ghazi and Sanson - Gerrard signed off by saying: “There's a few things brewing in the background and a few plates spinning. We're close on one or two different things but I can't say where and who. At the same time, I don't want to say nothing's going to happen then you see something break in the next couple of days so I'll sit on the fence!”

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