Aston Villa are going to be one of the busier Premier League clubs during the January transfer window, according to transfer expert Dean Jones.
The Lowdown: Emery set to work his magic
Unai Emery has spent the World Cup break getting more in-tune with his new surroundings, having replaced Steven Gerrard as Villa's new manager.
The Spaniard has a good squad at his disposal already but he will clearly want to bring in his own players, too - individuals who he believes can improve the quality in the squad but also suit the needs of his specific plans.
It is only a few weeks until the winter transfer window opens and it would be a big surprise if it was a quiet month at Villa.
The Latest: Busy January predicted
Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones claimed that Villa are viewed as one of the most likely to have a busy January, meaning agents will actively promote links to the Midlands:
"I’m told there are going to be lots of links coming up as agents are targeting Villa as a club that could be tempted to make a few changes in January.
"So, we might be bombarded with a few different names and different types of players. But let’s consider the type of player that Emery is likely to go for here and we’ll carefully go through them when they start to land."
[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-updates-5/" title="Aston Villa latest updates!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align=“none"]
The Verdict: Exciting times
This is an exciting new era at Villa, with Emery a proven manager in some of Europe's top leagues and plenty of money available for him to spend on new signings.
The Villans could do with strengthening in various key areas, including centre-back and centre forward - Tyrone Mings and Ollie Watkins can be improved upon, for example - making the spine of the team more formidable in the process.
In a world where transfer windows are such a big and exciting part of modern football, Villa fans are certainly likely to get their money's worth next month, and January should end with their team looking even stronger.