Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is making a January move for one of his summer transfer targets that he failed to land, according to recent reports.
What's the latest news involving Aston Villa?
Pundit Paul Merson has criticised Aston Villa's backline in a recent interview with Sportskeeda, stating: "Aston Villa usually beat all the bottom-half teams and get spanked by the others – they are so hard to predict! That said, I think they could be a proper handful this season as we've already seen and I expect them to have a good run in the UEFA Europa Conference League."
He then added: "Unai Emery's high line has proved to be a problem for the Villans so far as they've conceded eight goals against Liverpool and Newcastle United. Their brand of football is exciting to watch, but against the big boys, I don't think it'll work out."
The Villans take on Crystal Palace at home on Saturday and full-back Alex Moreno could return to contention for a starting berth after spending some time on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury, as per BBC Sport.
Trio Jacob Ramsey, Bertrand Traore and Tim Iroegbunam are ruled out while the game will also pass by Diego Carlos, who is out with a hamstring problem of his own.
Football Insider claim that Aston Villa have put the groundwork in to bring a 'marquee' striker to Villa Park in the January transfer window following the sales of Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene and Keinan Davis, which have in turn helped their Financial Fair Play obligations.
Emery is said to be keen to bring 'more firepower' to his attack to help take some of the goalscoring burden off the shoulders of Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran.
Who could Aston Villa look to sign in January?
According to reports in Spain via Sport Witness, Aston Villa boss Emery is believed to be considering a return swoop for Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos, who was of interest to the Villans during the summer transfer window.
Ceballos recently signed a new contract at the Spanish giants that will take his time in Madrid until 2027; nevertheless, Aston Villa will continue to court the player as they try to pull off a statement signing at Villa Park.
Labelled as someone who possesses a "very high-level" by Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, Ceballos has made 120 appearances in all competitions for Los Blancos across all competitions, registering six goals and 12 assists in the process, as per Transfermarkt.
The Spain international has fared extremely well in comparison to his positional peers across Europe's top five divisions in the art of progressive passes, having completed 11.29 per 90 minutes in the last 365 days on average, putting him in the 99th percentile for this metric, as per FBRef.
Of course, Ceballos also has some Premier League experience under his belt gained during his spell at Arsenal, where he worked under the tutelage of Aston Villa boss Emery, which could potentially add some credence to recent reports.