Steven Gerrard reveals Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos REJECTED Champions League clubs to join Aston Villa and emphasizes the new summer signings will bring ‘leadership’ and ‘style’ to the squad after impressing during pre-season tour through Australia
Aston Villa has strengthened their team with Boubacar Kamara and Diego Costa
The pair turned down Champions League clubs from joining, boss Steven Gerrard claims
Kamara and Costa impressed on their pre-season tour of Australia
Gerrard thinks Costa will provide additional leadership in Aston Villa defense
He also insists that Kamara will bring more style and pass to the engine room
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Steven Gerrard reveals summer signings Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos have rejected Champions League clubs from joining Aston Villa.
Villa attracted attention by taking two of the best available players into their positions early in the window, with midfielder Kamara arriving after his contract with Marseille expired, and central defender Carlos leaving Sevilla on a deal that would be worth £30million can be.
Gerrard’s men are currently on a pre-season tour of Australia, where the newcomers have impressed.
Ex-Marseille star Boubacar Kamara signed for free for Aston Villa earlier this month
Diego Carlos arrived at Villa Park from Seville in June for £26million
“Attracting players who had options to play in the Champions League is a big coup for the club,” said Gerrard, whose team faces Manchester United on Saturday in Perth.
“There was no point recruiting players that would make us stand still and I didn’t want to recruit players just to add to the numbers. I wanted to make players good enough for the XI, to make a difference.
“Diego is going to be a really big man and a leader for us in the back. You can see that right away and Kamara is going to give us style, he’s going to give us a pass range that I didn’t think we had.’
Head coach Steven Gerrard claims the pair rejected Champions League clubs from joining Villa
Gerrard took over last November when Dean Smith was sacked and while he comfortably sent Villa out of the relegation zone, he and billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have much more ambitious goals.
Although Villa has completed the transfers they had prioritized, Gerrard is still keen to sign another midfielder, depending on the future of Douglas Luiz and Carney Chukwuemeka, both of whom have only 12 months left on their contracts.
Gerrard added: “We want to be one of those teams that tries to disrupt the natural dynamics of the Premier League.
“If that means conquering a European spot, great, because we have to reach for the stars. But the minimum for me is that we have to operate in the top half of the competition.’