Aston Villa have scouted midfielder Habib Diarra with a view to making a potential move for the player during the upcoming summer transfer window, as manager Unai Emery aims to bolster his squad.

What’s the latest on Habib Diarra to Aston Villa?

According to The Sun, Aston Villa have sent scouts to watch Diarra in action for Ligue 1 side Strasbourg ahead of making a possible swoop for the youngster this summer.

As much as nine other teams are also keen on him however, among them are Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers. With a fee of just £20m looking like it could be enough to sign him, Villa are unsurprisingly not the only club monitoring his progress.

Could Aston Villa sign Habib Diarra in the summer?

Despite the intense competition for the 19-year-old, Villa have the means to lure him to the Premier League, especially if they qualify for European football next season.

The club have enjoyed previous transfer success from delving into the French market, with Boubacar Kamara joining the side last summer for nothing and has since gone on to be valued at €51.9m (£45m), with Villa clearly hitting the jackpot on the midfielder.

Although he has been restricted to just 20 league starts due to suffering a knee injury last year, he ranks in the top five out of the Villa squad for accurate passes, interceptions and tackles per game, certainly proving that he offers valuable defensive contributions while his passing ability has clearly been on show this term.

Diarra, then, could become Emery’s next Kamara. The 19-year-old has a greater positional versatility in terms of being able to operate either in the centre of the midfield or slightly deeper in a more defensive position, whereas Kamara tends to play deeper and dictate play from there.

The Strasbourg midfielder offers a greater attacking threat than the Villa player, scoring three goals compared to none for Kamara, while also creating 18 chances to Kamara’s seven, and this attacking output from the heart of the midfield could be a big bonus for Emery.

Kamara does have the better defensive stats however, with his experience proving to be the determining factor, winning more ground duels (101 to 61), making more clearances (23 to 11) and attempting more passes (909 to 523) which proves that the youngster still has much to learn.

Adding another player who is similar to Kamara would be a wise move from the Spaniard, especially with his undoubted potential. The current Villa star may be four years older than Diarra, but gaining experience in the Premier League will allow him to soon reach his level.