Aston Villa's big £33m question and the challenge for Steven Gerrard's contract rebel

Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa played a blinder in the January transfer window to bring in elite level performers as Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne, Robin Olsen and Calum Chambers all committed to the claret and blue cause.

Villa's business was all but concluded last week off the back of the shock deal to bring in Chambers from Arsenal, with deadline day used to ship out fringe players which included Jed Steer, Matt Targett and Kaine Kesler-Hayden.

With 17 matches remaining and, with Gerrard targeting a strong finish to the campaign, here we run through those with arguably the most to prove from now until May ahead of what's being billed as a monumental summer of change at Bodymoor Heath as Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens finally look to crack Europe.

The little magician got off to a flier to score on his big debut against Man United a fortnight ago while, prior to the winter break, Coutinho found it a little tough on his first start up at Everton.

The 29-year-old is still short in terms of his fitness levels and his performances at Villa Park will be under the microscope given his profile.

Coutinho has, though, swapped Barcelona for B6 to play with a smile on his face again and here's hoping that can happen as the Brazilian will look to rediscover his incredible form we've all witnessed first hand in years gone by.

The Coutinho deal is such an intriguing one to see how it'll play out. There's a buy option for a reported £33million in the summer - but performances will have to warrant those kind of conversations to even take place.

The Frenchman was Villa's January 2021 signing for £15million and, across the last 12 months, he has amassed just 16 appearances.

Sanson, 27, has been cursed with injuries and illness