'Front foot' Steven Gerrard makes bold Aston Villa transfer vow

Steven Gerrard insists it's imperative Aston Villa finish this season with a real flourish in order to attract some top names in the summer transfer window. The head coach wants to build on a successful winter window and has already told Villa's transfer committee that they must do all they can to sign Philippe Coutinho on a permanent deal from Barcelona.

Gerrard, 41, has been really pleased with the additions of Lucas Digne and Calum Chambers, while Robin Olsen's loan from Roma could be made permanent when the window reopens. Villa, meanwhile, will once again be big players in the summer transfer window after spending almost £300million across three summers since promotion in 2019.

As for Gerrard, quizzed the gaffer on his big plans once the season concludes and what needs to happen to transform Villa from a mid-table Premier League outfit to one competing with the big guns for European qualification. Gerrard says pre-season is huge, as is signing the right calibre of player with the boss set to be backed by Nassef Sawiris, Wes Edens, Christian Purslow and Johan Lange once again.

"There's still 10 games to go," Gerrard said. "I've said over numerous press conferences now that it's about putting us in the best position before that opportunity comes to help the group (sign players) in the summer.

"Of course, the last window was important for us to get the right players in. I thought we did that, we had a really positive window with the additions of Lucas, Philippe, Robin and Calum who's versatile. When the opportunity came for Lucas, the club were on the front foot and were aggressive. We're really pleased with that one and the Phil one, I think, there were a lot of eyebrows raised but we got it moving in a big way. So