Player #876 for Aston Villa, Idrissa Gana Gueye known as Idrissa Gueye played as a midfielder for the club in Villa’s Premier League relegation season of 2015-16 making 38 appearances and scoring once.

Idrissa was born in Dakar, Senegal on 26 September 1989.

Tim Sherwood’s Villa had signed Idrissa from LOSC Lille for £8,100,000 on 10 July 2015 and his arrival was a refreshing antidote to the sub-standard Villa signings that maligned the club throughout the 2015-16 campaign and drove Villa to their first relegation in nearly 30 years. Players such as Adama Traoré, Micah Richards, Jordan Veretout, Jordan Ayew, Rudy Gestede, Joleon Lescott and José Ángel Crespo were brought to the club despite being nowhere near the standard for a top flight player and Villa paid the price.

Idrissa Gueye was a different matter altogether and although he clearly saw his time in the Premier League as a stepping stone there was no suggestion from how he played the game that he didn’t give his all for the side and the team-mates around him who were significantly inferior to himself.

Reversing the recent trend of Villa managers, Tim Sherwood had recruited a genuinely excellent midfielder and a more than fitting replacement for the now departed Fabian Delph.

Unfortunately, despite Gueye’s excellent showings during the season he could not help Villa avoid relegation and the sole positive newcomer other than the largely absent Jordan Amavi was gone not wishing to stay with Villa in the second tier.

Gueye made his debut appearance for Villa on Saturday, 8 August 2015 aged 26 with Villa recording what would turn out to be a rare victory over AFC Bournemouth in the opening game of the 2015-16 Premier League season.

The testament to Gueye’s importance to an otherwise pitiful Villa squad was his starting selection whenever he was available.

Gueye’s work was cut out as a defensive midfielder breaking up play and trying to protect Villa’s powder puff defence but he repeatedly showed that he deserved to be playing alongside far better players than those that Villa could currently offer him.

Gueye scored his only goal for Villa in 2-0 FA Cup 3rd Round Replay against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday, 19 January 2016 but that wasn’t really his game.

Gueye made his final appearance for Villa on Sunday, 15 May 2016 aged 26 in Villa’s 0-4 defeat to Arsenal with Villa already having long been relegated. Unlike some of his lesser team-mates who absented themselves from playing duty and responsibility of the debacle that had unfolded in 2015-16, Gueye played on to the bitter end.

It was therefore little surprise that Gueye left the club with Villa playing in the second tier however what was truly surprising was both his destination and transfer fee. Joining perennial mid-table fodder Everton in August 2016 for a fee of just £7,650,000 underlined how poorly the club was being run on and off the pitch much to its own disadvantage.

Gueye played under Tim Sherwood, Rémi Garde and Eric Black.

In a move that surprised no one who saw him in a Villa shirt, Gueye left mid-table Everton behind in 2019 for Champions League staples Paris Saint-Germain for £27,000,000.