REPORT: Villa set to sign £9 million Senegalese midfielder from Lille

Aston Villa have reportedly agreed to a £9 million deal to sign Lille midfielder Idrissa Gueye. The Senegalese international has made 135 appearances for the Ligue 1 side and scored four times in the 2014-15 season. He's a pacy box-to-box midfielder with the ability to play a bit of holding mid as well. Initially, at least, he looks to be a replacement for Tom Cleverley, who signed with Everton last month.

There is also the potential that Gueye could be a replacement for Fabian Delph, who has been linked to a few clubs lately despite signing a new four-year deal with Aston Villa this summer. If the numbers that we have heard for Delph are true (something in the £9 million range) then this would basically be a one-for-one swap.

Back to Gueye, though, Andrew Gibney, who covers France for FourFourTwo and Bleacher Report, was on twitter saying that the midfielder should probably be aiming for a better club than Villa at this point. He described Gueye as "Box to box. Great energy. Added goals too."

And as for those goals? Give a look to just two from this past season:

In both we can see a player with exceptional passing ability and the patience to put himself in the right position and wait for the right time to make a move. Of course, these are highlights. You could probably find a few things like this for Charles N'Zogbia, too. But combined with what we're hearing elsewhere, if this deal is indeed true, it looks like a pretty good move for Aston Villa.