According to The Mirror transfer column, Aston Villa are interested in signing Burnley defender Ben Gibson on loan this month. 

The 26-year-old arrived at Turf Moor for £12m from Middlesbrough in the summer, in a move that brought a huge amount of promise. He had been instrumental for Boro over the past three seasons, helping them earn promotion to the Premier League, and heavily featuring during their season in the top flight.

However, he has only managed one Premier League game this season, and even managed to score in it, as manager Sean Dyche clearly does not trust him. Nonetheless, he is still a good player, particularly in the Championship, and could do a great job at Villa.

The Villans have been in dire need of centre-backs this season, and while they have alleviated those problems somewhat with the loan deal of Kourtney Hause from Wolves, they may still need one more signing in that position to save the fans from any more worrying. To be able to recruit yet another Premier League standard defender would not only ease Dean Smith's problems, but will make them a much stronger outfit as they try and climb up the Championship table over the next few months.

Finally, if Gibson would be able to help Villa earn promotion back to the Premier League, there is a possibility that this loan deal could become permanent, as he would surely be reluctant to return to a Burnley side that have barely valued him thus far.

This looks like a brilliant deal if Villa can secure it by the end of the month.