Aston Villa are set for a busy final few days of the transfer window with the deadline on January 31 quickly approaching.
Villa have already brought in Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho, however the Midlands club continue to be linked with an array of players as Steven Gerrard seeks to further strengthen his side.
With no fixture for the club until the clash with Leeds at Villa Park on February 9, attentions turn to potential in-comings and outgoings before Monday's deadline.
With that in mind here is your Thursday morning Aston Villa digest on January 27.
Aston Villa set to bid for Bentancur
Aston Villa are reportedly set to offer around £21million for Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.
Bentancur is a top target for Villa this month with the Uruguayan earmarked to replace the injured Marvelous Nakamba who is sidelined with a knee injury.
Villa are looking to recruit a defensive midfielder so Douglas Luiz can be played in his preferred central midfield position.
Nakamba, whose Villa career has been stop-start since he arrived from Club Brugge in 2019, proved how key the defensive midfield position is in Gerrard’s system before he got injured in December.
Villa face battle to sign McAtee
Aston Villa face competition from two other Premier League clubs to sign Manchester City starlet James McAtee, according to reports.
The 19-year-old has been in fine form for City's under-23 team this season and is said to be impressing Premier League clubs Villa, Leicester City and Brighton.
After another match-winning display for the club's U23s on Monday night, the Daily Mail claim his performance "caught the eye of watching scouts".
McAtee's strike in the 1-0 win over Chelsea sent City to the top of Premier League 2 and took his goals tally for the season to 14, ahead of Arsenal's Folarin Balogun.
Agbonlahor revelation
Gabby Agbonlahor continues to divulge about his Aston Villa days during his stint working for radio broadcaster talkSPORT.
The 35-year-old is almost three years retired now after hanging up his boots on March 27, 2019, aged just 32.
Agbonlahor has since swapped his football boots for a set of headphones and a microphone and is a regular on talkSPORT's Breakfast Show.
Today, the former England striker recalled an infamous story from a pre-season camp in Portugal under previous manager Paul Lambert.
Agbonlahor outlined how one of his former Villa teammates, whose identity was not revealed, was left behind in the Algarve before Villa made the decision not to play him again.
Gerrard on Luiz
Steven Gerrard has revealed that Aston Villa are yet to open new contract talks with Douglas Luiz.
The Brazilian's current deal at Villa Park expires in 17 months - at the end of next season - and Gerrard wants his midfielder to 'step up another few gears' from now until the end of the season.
Last week, Emi Martinez and Kortney Hause signed new long-term deals up until 2027 and 2025 respectively, following in the footsteps of John McGinn (2025), Tyrone Mings (2024), Ezri Konsa (2026), Jacob Ramsey (2025) and Matt Targett (2025).
However, despite racking up 94 appearances since his £15million move from Man City in August 2019, there's been no new deal on the table for the Olympic champion.
