Aston Villa have upped their pursuit of former Liverpool midfielder and Rangers manager Steven Gerrard as they hope to secure his services before the end of the international break ahead of their November 20 Premier League clash against Brighton Hove and Albion.

Villa sacked former manager Dean Smith after an unimpressive and inconsistent start to the premier League last season closer to the relegation what five consecutive losses which climaxed with a 1-0 loss to Southampton on Sunday.

The choice of Steven Gerrard has the new manager remains constant as is a favourite of the hierarchy at the villa park despite the fact that Belgium manager Roberto Martinez, who led the Red Devils to the semifinals of the FIFA world cup in 2018 but a disappointing knockout stage exit at the Euro 2020 this summer, remains in the mix of potential candidates.

Although Gerrard is seen as potentially a future manager of Liverpool, the fact that the position at the Anfield stadium is still filled by Jurgen Klopp makes Aston Villa eager to complete the deal especially based on the job he has done at Glasgow Rangers in the past 2 years.

Meanwhile, newly unveiled Newcastle manager Eddie Howe has continued to explain his views about the job at the Saint James’s park after he said on Wednesday that his decision to join the club is purely football based.

Newcastle is the richest club in the UK in Europe after saudi-backed consortium takeover last month.

“For me this was a football decision. I’m absolutely delighted to be manager of Newcastle, I’ll repeat myself, it is about football and that is all I’ll concern myself with.” He said.

His first game in charge of the side will be against Brentford at the St. James’s park after the international break.