Aston Villa In Transfer Race For Stephane Sessegnon, Paris Saint Germain Winger

Aston Villa and Newcastle are in the hunt to sign PSG winger Stéphane Sessègnon, according to the always reliable Daily Mail. Normally I wouldn't give two shakes as to what the Mail is writing, but I know people on here love them some Sessègnon, and will be quite thrilled to see his name linked with the Villa.

And after Andrew's pocket player piece on the winger, I'm convinced that Sessègnon is ready to move onward and upward from Ligue 1. What I'm not convinced about, however, is why Aston Villa would pursue him. Is it only because Gerard Houllier is French, and therefore could welcome Sessègnon with open arms? In the time of Martin O'Neill, Aston Villa seemed linked with any unhappy Irish player (didn't matter if MON was actually from Northern Ireland) and now the club will just be an easy link for French players not suited for Arsenal? Either that, or the Mail has been keeping a close eye on a certain Twitter rumor.

The reason I'm so hesitant about this link with Aston Villa and Sessègnon is that I just can't see how he would fit in the system. Shall we make another accounting of the number of attacking midfielders and wingers that are present at Villa right now? There are so many on the squad that Houllier's already doing a juggling act to determine who will take the field.

Granted, that's how it's meant to be. Houllier chose perfectly for the match against Chelsea, leaving the young kids on the bench and choosing to have Stewart Downing as the first obstacle for Ashley Cole. There's no way Marc Albrighton would've have handled that match as well. Having rotation and choice are necessary for a team that has designs on Europe, but it's also possible to overload the squad.

While it would be nice to have a player that can attack from both sides and through the middle, it would overload the squad and bring Villa depth in the one place it's not needed. Shiny new toys would be fun, if we were Russian bizillionaires with money to throw on anything that glitters. Alas, Aston Villa are not, and the limited funds must go toward places we most need reinforcement. Which, at this point, is the unsexy position of left-back. And judging from Ciaran Clark's place in the lineup against Chelsea, Gerard Houllier knows it.