Aston Villa to Sign French Midfielder?

Between this results on the pitch, and the lack of signings off it, January has been a tough month for the psyche of Aston Villa supporters. But at least there appears to be at least one reinforcement coming to the club.

Aston Villa appear to be on the verge of signing defensive midfielder Yacouba Sylla from Clermont Foot for £2 million, according to Mat Kendrick, the BBC's Pat Murphy and others, as well as the Clermont official Twitter. The deal is expected to go through tomorrow.

The 22 year old has made one appearance for the French Under-21 National Team, and supposedly, Patrick Viera compared him to Yaya Toure. It also must be said that Clermont Foot is in Ligue 2, the second division of French football, and Sylla has had only limited experience in even that.

While, I've never seen him play and have no opinion of his skills, I will be more than happy when and if this signing goes through. Villa needed something to strengthen and beef up the midfield, and the 6 foot defensive midfielder ought to help out in that department. It's not the "Premier League experience" signing that some fans want, but at least it's something. After a month of no signings, at least we'll have one. Besides, it's not like he can make it any worse.