Why losing Yves Bissouma to 1996 Coca Cola Cup winners Aston Villa is not as unlikely as it may sound

Those of you who have not heard where the rumour mill is sending him may be surprised by the destination. Over the past year remember, Bissouma has been linked with Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain.

So, who are the gossip pages saying is going to be his next club? Aston Villa. Yeah, that Aston Villa. The Aston Villa below Brighton in the Premier League table.

Who have finished lower than the Albion in the footballing pyramid for all but one of the past six seasons. And whose fans believe they are one of the greatest clubs in the country still despite their last piece of silverware being the 1996 Coca Cola Cup.

It is easy to scoff at the idea of Bissouma moving to Villa. I have just proven that in the previous paragraph. Many Albion supporters have done a passable impression of the Laughing Policeman, guffawing at those pushing their Bissouma to Villa narrative. Why would be go there?!

But the worrying, uncomfortable truth is that there is every chance Bissouma could move to Villa, if not in January then in the summer. The Malian is out of contract in June 2023.

If no new deal is agreed, then Brighton have only two-and-a-half transfer windows in which to sell before they risk seeing a player who could fetch them tens of millions of pounds walk away for nothing.

Brighton fans have put forward many reasons as to why Bissouma to Villa is a non-starter, all of which can be dismissed quite easily. First, the comparisons to the Ben White situation in the summer of 2020. The theory goes that Tony Bloom would not sell White to Leeds United as they were a direct rival. Why then would he sell Bissouma to Villa who are similar?

White was under a long-term contract with three years still to run when Leeds came bidding. Brighton had no need to sell no matter what Leeds offered. If Villa come in with an offer of £40 million in January – something they could easily afford thanks to their Jack Grealish windfall and rich Chinese owners - Tony Bloom has a very different decision to make.

Bloom faces a difficult choice. If Bissouma has shown no indication of signing a new contract for Brighton, does Bloom extract the maximum he can for Brighton's star player as soon as possible? Or keep him, watch his contract run down and with it the amount a buying club will be willing to pay?

Foreign clubs can open talks about a free transfer when a player enters their final six months, so if Real or PSG retain an interest then they could begin negotiations direct with Bissouma this time next year.

For a player the Albion might have received £60 million for if a bid had been forthcoming last summer, Bloom will surely not take the latter of those options. Better to get £40 million in the bank now and reinvest that in reinforcements than nothing at all.

Say Brighton do accept a bid from Villa. The next argument about him leaving stems from it looking a sideways move. As already noted, the Albion are above Steven Gerrard’s mob in the table. Brighton are also the club who gave Bissouma his chance in English football, turned him from a rough diamond into one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League.

They have stuck by him through publicised off-the-pitch issues, which may yet be suitably off-putting to potential suitors that none decide to follow up their interest with a firm bid. That adds another layer of complication to the situation.

Given all of that, you would hope Bissouma retains some loyalty to Brighton. No doubt Southampton fans felt exactly the same about Danny Ings. The striker had revitalised his career at St Mary's, becoming a regular in the England squad after an injury hit time at Liverpool.