Aston Villa ace rewarded as Steven Gerrard begins to unlock £33m talent

Aston Villa had a busy month in terms of their business in the transfer window but as well as transfers, they also played a total of four games.

Villa recorded one win, one draw and two losses in the month and although the results were inconsistent, the performances of Emi Buendia were quite the opposite.

Buendia shined throughout each of these games and it has therefore led to him being named the Cazoo Player of the Month by the club.

He started the month with an immediate impact on January 2 with an assist against Brentford. A neat spin away from his opponents and a inch perfect pass threaded to Danny Ings, gave Villa the lead in the 16th minute.

Despite the result ending in a 2-1 loss, Buendia was a bright spark in this fixture. As well as his assist he recorded five shots, four key passes, eight duels won and three fouls drawn.

The issue for Buendia has been gathering momentum after these type of performances, so it was a welcome sight for fans to see him shine in both fixtures against Manchester United too.

In the FA Cup fixture at Old Trafford, Buendia continued to display a keen effort defensively and a spark offensively, and when he was substituted in the 79th minute, Villa's threat to the United goal diminished. He was determined to make up for this disappointing loss in the cup however and looked a man possessed in the fixture at Villa Park just days later.

Buendia recorded four key passes, four successful dribbles with a 100% success rate, 11 duels won, four fouls drawn and two tackles made. It was a performance that Villa needed at times, as until the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Carney Chukwuemeka were brought on, Villa looked flat at times.

Finally, Buendia rounded off an excellent month with the game