Saturday comment: Lewis Grabban may yet prove to be Steve Bruce's best Aston Villa signing

Mistakes of the recent past, Villa’s failure to reclaim Premier League status at the first attempt and the need to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations left the manager operating on a significantly reduced budget.

Having spent more than £80million on players in the previous two transfer windows, Villa paid out only £2.5million in fees to bring in Ahmed Elmohamady and Glenn Whelan from Hull and Stoke respectively.

A further £2million was used to snare Robert Snodgrass on loan, while the club agreed a £60,000-a-week deal with free agent John Terry. The only other arrivals came in the shape of Josh Onomah and Sam Johnstone, both on season-long loans.

All six signings have, to varying degrees, contributed to the relative success of the campaign.

Snodgrass, Terry and Johnstone have been the stand-outs. The latter has enjoyed an excellent first full season in the Championship, keeping 20 clean sheets to this point, while Snodgrass sits joint top of the division’s assist charts having directly created 14 goals.

Bringing in Terry, who turned 37 last November, was seen as a gamble in some quarters. It is undoubtedly one which paid off, with the five-time Premier League winner helping to bring a new sense of purpose to the dressing room.

On top of that, Whelan and Elmohamady have helped to add further experience and consistency. Onomah, meanwhile, caught the eye with some impressive early performances, with recent displays suggesting the Tottenham loanee has recovered strongly from a mid-season slump which, at the age of 20, was perhaps to be expected.

Yet while last summer’s business might in hindsight appear solid, there is a growing suspicion Bruce may have made the most significant signing of the campaign – and perhaps his entire reign – during the recent January window.

Lewis Grabban has only started nine games for Villa since joining on loan from Bournemouth but already he is the club’s top-scoring striker this term, a brace in last weekend’s 4-0 win at Ipswich taking his tally to seven and above Scott Hogan.

A more detailed analysis of the 30-year-old’s statistics for the entire season, meanwhile, reveal a player in some of the best form of his career.

Derby’s Matej Vydra might have nudged ahead of him in the scoring charts, yet an argument can be made for Grabban being the division’s best centre-forward over the course of the campaign.

His 19 goals have been scored at a rate of one every 127 minutes. Throw in the fact 12 of those were netted while playing in a hapless Sunderland team during the opening half of the season and the figures only seem more impressive.

Even more important, at least from Villa’s perspective, is his all-round game. Grabban’s awareness and hold-up play has provided Bruce’s team a dimension previously missing in the final third. A versatility which means he can also operate on the wing is a further positive.

Jonathan Kodjia’s return to fitness might have given Villa a boost. It is Grabban, however, who is now surely secure as the club’s No.1 forward approaching the play-offs.

There his experience should also come in handy, even if memories are a little mixed.

In four previous trips to the play-offs, while with Millwall, Norwich and Reading, Grabban has twice won promotion and twice experienced Wembley heartache. He now has a major part to play in ensuring Villa experience the former rather than the latter next month.