Comment: Aston Villa seize the initiative in exciting transfer window

Four signings – including the most high profile in club history – and three senior departures represented an efficient first transfer window for Steven Gerrard as the head coach began reshaping his squad.

The big deals came early. By January 13, Villa had already made statement moves for Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne.

Both signings were bold and opportunistic, evidence of Gerrard’s desire to win now rather than later, with a noticeable shift away from the club’s previous strategy of recruiting young players with promise to bringing in established stars with considerable pedigree.

The later captures of Robin Olsen and Calum Chambers added further experience and depth and while it was not a new signing, Villa convincing their best player – goalkeeper Emi Martinez – to commit his long-term future with a new five-and-a-half year contract ranks among the best pieces of business done anywhere in the past four weeks.

The window could not be described as perfect. With Marvelous Nakamba out injured, Gerrard had been eager to bring in a defensive-minded midfielder but talks with Juventus over Uruguay international Rodrigo Bentancur failed to progress while Brighton’s £50million valuation of Yves Bissouma was too high for Villa to countenance, particularly when anticipated interest in Douglas Luiz failed to materialise.

Luiz has been operating as the club’s deepest-lying midfielder in Nakamba’s absence, a position both the player and Gerrard have acknowledged is not his strongest. Not for the first time a transfer window has closed with the sense Villa are a player light in the middle of the park.

Yet Gerrard made clear from the start his unwillingness to compromise on targets and much as the wealth and ambition of Villa’s owners cannot be doubted, at some point big money deals have to balance out. Since winning promotion, Villa have spent more than £350m on new signings but recouped less than a third of that figure and most of that in one deal – the £100m sale of Jack Grealish.

Selling fringe players or those no longer deemed part of the plan is tricky business for any club. In that regard, Villa will hope the loan moves granted to Anwar El Ghazi, Jed Steer and Matt Targett might eventually translate into solid fees.

Of the departures, Targett’s was the most surprising but with Digne clearly the first choice at left-back and Ashley Young and Chambers providing cover, letting the 26-year-old leave was considered the right decision.