Forget Carney: Gerrard could land his own Grealish at AVFC with “exceptional” starlet - opinion

Aston Villa have been busier than most teams across the whole of Europe in this January transfer window when it comes to bringing new players to the Midlands club such as Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne, Robin Olsen and Calum Chambers.

With that in mind and the fact that the Villans still have some time left to make yet another late swoop after bringing Chambers in from Arsenal just a couple of days ago.

One player that they could try and make a deal for before Monday is Manchester City youngster James McAtee, who has been mentioned to have caught the eye of Villa in recent days thanks to his performances for City’s U23 side.

As a young, English attacking-midfielder, the City prospect could be seen as Steven Gerrard’s own version of former Villa star Jack Grealish, who joined the reigning Premier League champions and current league leaders back in the previous summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £100m.

Also, with the 19-year-old sharing similar qualities to the former Villa captain in terms of being able to score goals and provide assists with 42 goals and 26 assists under his belt in 84 appearances for City’s youth and senior sides, he could be an exciting talent for Gerrard to have at his disposal.

In terms of a potential late move to Villa, with the teenager, who has been labelled as one of the club’s “exceptional” young talents by Pep Guardiola, only having appeared in three senior games for City so far, he may feel that he would be better off at a Premier League club where he’d be more likely to get some first-team minutes under his belt, which could be at Villa Park should Gerrard see enough potential in him.

In addition to that, with current Villa youngster Carney Chukwuemeka apparently not