Steven Gerrard has told Carney Chukwuemeka to iron out his Aston Villa future once and for all. The head coach wants the 18-year-old to commit to the project he’s building at Villa Park after the talented midfielder rejected a new, long-term contract back in October amid concerns over a lack game time in the Premier League.
Ahead of Villa’s match with Manchester United on Saturday,
Steven Gerrard said: “I think that’s a question quite clearly for Carney. The only thing that I can say to fulfil your question is that we want to keep him here. We rate the player. We’ve committed to the player. He’s got 18 months left so, if that situation doesn’t change, then he’ll be here for 18 months. We’ll continue to support him. We want him to sign and to extend and reward him for what we’ve seen so far. We’ve got big aspirations and a big road map for Carney but, in terms of answering your question, there’s only one person who can answer and that’s Carney. You should ask Tommy (head of communications) if you can maybe do an interview with him!”
Elsewhere, Villa have been linked with a mega-move for Brighton’s midfield enforcer Yves Bissouma and, with Marvelous Nakamba out for the remainder of the season, Gerrard was asked if he’s looking to bring in a new defensive middle man to boost his engine-room options.
Steven Gerrard said: “Look, we’re disappointed not to have Nakamba available,” Gerrard replied. “He was outstanding for us in the early weeks of our arrival. We’re giving him all of the support he needs now to try and make a safe and good recovery from that injury. Dougie’s been playing as a No.6 of late and playing relatively well. We’ve got some other options in there. We’ve made a couple of signings in the last two days that we’re really pleased about and we’ll just have to keep analysing the situation as we move along and we’ll wait and see. I suppose the answer to your question is I’m not going to give anything away in terms of where we’re looking and who we’re looking for – but there’s a possibility that there could be a bit of a change from now until the end of the window. There could be outs and there could be ins. We’ll have to analyse it and see how we get on.”
Gerrard, who’ll have new signings Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne available tomorrow, was also asked about further business this month ahead of transfer deadline day on January 31.
The 41-year-old Steven Gerrard said: “Look, there are a couple of situations that you have to analyse: do we need someone to come in and compete or are we short in a certain area? For example, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that Axel Tuanzebe went out of the building for a different challenge: for me, I like four centre-backs so we are analysing that situation. What type of player and who and when – whether this window or next – we’ll have to wait and see. That’s how you analyse it. Can we find that level and calibre and pedigree of player who is going to improve the team and squad? Or is it something we need because we’re a little bit short for competition or cover or maybe the squad needs someone for a ‘what if’ situation, i.e. an injury or a suspension.”
It was previous boss Dean Smith who handed Chukwuemeka his first-team debut at Tottenham last season while, in August, the teenager started in the Premier League for the first time in the draw with Brentford. Under Gerrard, Chukwuemeka’s made four appearances off the bench against Man City, Leicester, Norwich and Chelsea, and assisted brilliantly for Ollie Watkins in the win at Carrow Road. The England under-19 star was an unused sub at Old Trafford on Monday evening and, unprompted, Gerrard spoke of his frustration at not knowing “what Carney’s going to do in terms of his future”.
