The January transfer window will soon be on the radar of Aston Villa fans, who will be anticipating improvements to Unai Emery’s squad.

That is easier said than done midway through the campaign, but Villa proved that there is business to be done in the winter window after signing Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, and Axel Disasi on loan, while Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia joined permanently.

However, Villa raised nearly £100 million in transfer fees through the sales of Jhon Duran, Diego Carlos, and Jaden Philogene.

It was, on the whole, a relatively quiet summer of activity for Villa, but they still managed to recruit five first-team players — three of whom arrived on deadline day: Harvey Elliott, Victor Lindelof, and Jadon Sancho.

They followed the earlier arrivals of Marco Bizot and Evann Guessand, who joined permanently from Stade Brest and Nice, respectively.

Asked about the winter window in their latest Claret & Blue Q&A, John Townley said: “A striker is probably the position we could focus on in January. Back in the summer, I said I was happy to...