Aston Villa have made a sensational start to the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, and they are heading into the new year well within the race for a spot in the top four – and potentially even in the title race.
The January transfer window offers clubs an opportunity to bolster their squad for whatever their ambitions may be for the remaining months of the campaign and this is no different for Unai Emery.
Villa’s bright start to the term has meant that this January window could be used as an opportunity to strengthen their depth or even add to their starting XI which has fared so well thus far.
Injuries have not been kind to the Midlanders with the likes of Emiliano Bunedia and Tyrone Mings both sidelined through serious injuries that both required surgery.
With this in mind, Emery’s options have been stretched in certain positions which may lead the Spaniard with midfield and defence on his mind in the winter market.
And with the winter spending soon to get underway, we at Football FanCast have taken a look at the best 10 pieces of January business Aston Villa have done in their recent history…
10
Tyrone Mings
January 2019
Now well established as one of the mainstays in Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side, the England international was initially brought in on loan from AFC Bournemouth in January of 2019.
The 30-year-old played a huge role in the 2018/19 campaign which saw Villa promoted back to the Premier League. He would play in 15 of Villa’s remaining Championship games as well as all three of their play-off games leading to their promotion (via Transfermarkt).
After the play-off final triumph, Mings was spotted returning to Bournemouth via public transport whilst still wearing his full Villa kit – with medal still hanging around his neck.
Having then signed for Villa permanently for a fee in the region of £26.5m, Mings has not had an easy ride at Villa Park after being stripped of the captaincy during Steven Gerrard’s reign on the touchline.
However, the centre-back has come through the question marks surrounding him and has even racked up 18 caps for England under Gareth Southgate.
9
Conor Hourihane
January 2017
Villa fans will know the name Conor Hourihane very well with the midfielder playing a huge role at the club after only leaving Villa Park in 2022.
Indeed, Hourihane made the move to Villa Park in 2017 from Barnsley for a fee of around £3m, however, this proved to be an absolute bargain for what they got in return.
By no means was Hourihane a player who proved to be a massive success in the Premier League, but he was able to rack up 31 top flight appearances where he returned four goals and six assists (via Transfermarkt).
It was in the Championship where Hourihane truly shone with an impressive tally of 19 goals and 17 assists in his 101 appearances in the second tier.
In total, Villa got 151 appearances out of the Irishman and at the price of around £3m; that is some seriously good January business if you ask us.
8
Pepe Reina
January 2020
The experienced shot-stopper made a loan move to Villa from AC Milan in January 2020 at the age of 39. He became an instant hit at Villa Park with just half the campaign remaining.
Villa survived the drop by just one point that season, and they can certainly thank their Spanish goalkeeper for the part he played in keeping the club afloat.
Naturally, for a side who were among the bottom few sides battling against the drop, Villa’s results left a lot to be desired and Reina was only able to keep two clean sheets over his 20 league appearances.
However, his role in the final four games of the campaign cannot be underestimated as Villa took eight points from a possible 12 and Reina only allowed in two goals – including a clean sheet against Arsenal (via Transfermarkt).
7
Ryan Bertrand
January 2014
Villa raided Chelsea for – the now Premier League veteran – Ryan Bertrand in January of 2014 and brought the left-back in on loan until the end of the 2014/15 campaign.
Bertrand went on to make 16 appearances for Villa that season as they managed to narrowly survive the drop despite losing 10 of the games which Bertrand played in.
Ironically, one of the four victories Villa managed during Bertrand’s loan spell was against his parent club, Chelsea, a game in which Bertrand was unable to feature in given the loan stipulations.
Although this was an extremely rough spell for Villa in the Premier League, Bertrand was one of the better performers and is well deserved of a spot on this list.
6
Darren Bent
January 2011
Villa splurged big in the January window of 2011 on Darren Bent when they spent £24m on the England striker from Sunderland – seeing Villa smash their transfer record for a player.
Bent’s first season and a half showed real promise for his new side with a solid return of 18 goals over his first 38 league appearances (via Transfermarkt).
However, the 2012/13 campaign proved to be a bit of a disaster for Bent who suffered from multiple injuries which meant he only racked up eight starts in the Premier League – scoring just three.
He was then loaned out to Fulham for the 2013/14 campaign and never really featured again for Villa barring a handful of Premier League cameos in the 2014/15 campaign.
5
Axel Tuanzebe
January 2018
During Villa’s time in the Championship, they brought in the English defender Axel Tuanzebe on a short-term loan from Manchester United.
And the centre-back played a big role in the club’s return to the big time after making an impressive 30 appearances for Villa in the second tier before leading the backline alongside Tyrone Mings in the play-offs.
It has to be said, Tuanzebe would have played a lot more games for Villa during their time in the Championship had it not been for a metatarsal injury which sidelined him for a number of months.
Tuanzebe remained at Villa Park for four years over a number of different loan deals, but he did find difficulties in keeping his spot in the starting XI during their return to the Premier League.
Although it never really worked for the defender in the Premier League, his efforts in helping them return to the top flight should not be forgotten.
4
Lewis Grabban
January 2018
As Villa eyed promotion to the Premier League in the 2017/18 campaign, they were able to bolster their attack with the loan signing of Lewis Grabban from Bournemouth.
And Grabban did exactly what Villa will have hoped for during his short stint at the club. Indeed, over his 15 appearances in the Championship, the striker was able to provide an impressive return of eight goals.
But it was not a loan deal which ended as all parties would have envisaged, as Grabban was unable to carry his form shown in the league into the play-offs as he returned a blank over the two games against Middlesbrough and then the final against Fulham.
3
Lucas Digne
January 2022
In January 2022, Villa made a huge January signing by bringing in Lucas Digne from Everton for a fee in the region of £30m. The Frenchman was someone who provided Villa an instant upgrade at left-back following an impressive spell at Everton.
There is no doubt there may be some frustration following his arrival at Villa Park given he has suffered from a number of injury issues which have limited his time on the pitch.
However, the Frenchman has still been able to feature 73 times for Villa since arriving and he has been able to provide a return of three goals and nine assists across all competitions (via Transfermarkt).
This season alone, Digne is able to boast 18 appearances in the Premier League after nailing down the left-back spot under Unai Emery.
2
Robbie Keane
January 2012
There is potentially some room for debate on this one considering Robbie Keane only featured six times for Villa in the Premier League following his arrival on a short-term loan from MLS side LA Galaxy. However, he showed some real signs of form in that brief time.
Indeed, in those six appearances for Villa in the league, Keane was able to provide a mightily impressive return of three goals. Two of those goals came against his former side and Villa’s rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, with his final goal coming against Newcastle United.
Keane may have only spent a short time at Villa Park, but we are sure there will have been many who would have liked to see the Irishman return on a permanent basis following the end of the loan.
1
Philippe Coutinho
January 2022
The Brazilian’s time at Villa Park may be viewed on the whole as a bit underwhelming given what Philippe Coutinho had shown in his previous Premier League spell at Liverpool.
However, there were some moments of excellence shown by the midfielder who played a total of 43 times for Villa across all competitions (via Transfermarkt).
In his opening 19 appearances for Villa in the Premier League, Coutinho was able to return five goals and three assists, but in his following 22 league games he only found the back of the net once.
Although this transfer may have ended in disappointment, it was perhaps a sign of things to come for Villa in terms of the calibre of player which they could attract.
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