(Football news) The 22-year-old was announced as a Villa player on Monday as the club have already made a statement by signing Diego Carlos and Kamara in the transfer window. He was signed as a free agent from Marseille, it was reported that Steven Gerrard’s side had fought off competition from Atletico Madrid to get the highly-rated defensive midfielder from France. Kamara, 22, will join the Midlands club on a five-year contract.. He is the third player to join Villa this month after Philippe Coutinho made his loan from Barcelona permanent.

Kamara has made around 170 appearances for Marseille after graduating from the club's academy in 2016 and he even helped the club reach the Europa League final in 2018 and finished runners-up to Paris Saint Germain in Ligue 1 this season. He has nine caps for France U21s and was called up to the senior squad for the first time for Nations League matches next month. The signing makes a lot of sense as Steven Gerrard likes playing with a double pivot in the midfield with Douglas Luiz acting as the second holding midfielder and pushing John McGinn a little forward. Villa also want to sign free agent Burnley centre back James Tarkowski to sure up their defence even and have agreed a deal with Hearts for Scotland youth international midfielder Ewan Simpson who's just 15 years old

Villa under Steven Gerrard is going through somewhat of a transition as he is trying to implement some youthful exuberance along with some experienced players in the squad. With the signings of Coutinho, Kamara and Diego Carlos, Villa are certainly a club which is looking to take a step forward and qualify for Europe next season. These signings indicate that the board are backing Gerrard heavily in the transfer market. In Kamara he was heavily scouted by the likes of Manchester United, PSG and Bayern Munich but ultimately he chose Aston Villa for the club's ambition to the next step forward. 

'When I met with Steven, Christian [Purslow] and Johan [Lange], I knew Aston Villa was for me,' Kamara told Villa's official website.'Their ambition and determination to succeed matches my own. I cannot wait for pre-season to get going.'

Gerrard added: 'I am delighted that we have been able to attract one of the most promising young talents in European football.  'We have a very clear plan to make our team stronger and Bouba is an important part of that.'

Also read: Aston Villa sign Sevilla defender Diego Carlos  for a reported €26 million