Former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton has been reacting to Steven Gerrard’s decision to offload two senior attackers in the January transfer window, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Gerrard’s plan

According to a Villa source, the club will look to move on two of Bertrand Traore, Anwar El Ghazi and Trezeguet, with Gerrard feeling that he has an unbalanced squad at Bodymoor Heath.

The new manager believes he has too many attacking players, with Villa set to listen to loan or permanent offers regarding the trio in the New Year.

A centre-back and a central midfielder are thought to be on Gerrard’s wish list, so it seems as if it could be a busy start to 2022 for NSWE.

The Latest: Hutton reacts

Hutton, who regularly contributes on BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider about Gerrard’s plans. The former Villa defender labelled them ‘interesting’ but agreed with the manager's reported stance, saying:

“I don’t think that a massive rush (to sell) but I think Steven Gerrard’s right.

“They are heavily loaded in those forward areas. We can sit here and say these guys have had enough opportunities to be in the team and absolutely shine.

“We have seen it in flashes but I’ve always said I need more. I need to see more of it. We know how talented they are.

“He probably wants to balance that squad up a little bit. They’re very light at left-back but you’ve got all these wingers. I understand what he’s doing there.

“It will be interesting to see who he actually lets go because I think the owners will back the manager in January with a new signing or two. There is a big squad there so he will have to offset that.”

The Verdict: Who stays?

Should the rumours prove accurate, then perhaps it would be best to keep hold of Traore out of the three names mentioned. He only made the move to Villa Park last year and enjoyed a solid first season, contributing to 14 Premier League goals in 29 starts.

While he has struggled with injuries during the current campaign and is yet to start a league game in 2021/22, he has proven thathe can cope in the Premier League, something Trezeguet is yet to do with just 11 goal involvements in 55 games and El Ghazi’s 20 in 70 games – six of which have been penalties.

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