Villa vying with Liverpool and Newcastle for Charlton midfield starlet

Aston Villa, Liverpool, and Newcastle are all vying to secure the transfer of Charlton Athletic midfielder Jordan Cousins according to a report in the Mail. Villa are apparently leading the race for the 21-year-old, who made 44 appearances in the Championship last year, but manager Guy Luzon will be fighting hard to keep Cousins with Joe Gomez also seemingly on the way out.

Cousins has appeared for England at the U-16, -17, -18, and -21 levels. At the latter he has one goal in three appearances. His time at Charlton, too, has been quite successful, but don't expect a goal-scoring monster. In ninety-four total appearances with the club he has only found the back of the net five times. What he does bring to the pitch is versatility. He spent most of this season on the left side of the midfield and he can join the defense as well, but he's projected to be a strong central midfielder.

There are no rumoured fees yet, so it's hard to make much of this. Cousins seems like the type of player who could add depth now while possibly featuring regularly in the future. This season he was named the Charlton player of the year, and you can see some of his highlights in this video put together by the club. I know I said not to expect a goal-scorer, but the first one in this video is absolutely stunning.

Villa are thought to be leading the race primarily due to assistant coach Mark Robson, who worked with Charlton, including coaching in the academy, for six years. But what do you think? Is Cousins worth pursuing?