Kesler over Cash, Bentancur starts - Gerrard's strongest Aston Villa team after transfer deadline

The clock continues to tick down on Aston Villa's pursuit of top target Rodrigo Bentancur with negotiations ongoing with Juventus.

Villa have five more days to strike a deal for the Uruguayan international, while head coach Steven Gerrard is also in the market for a new centre-back to replace Axel Tuanzebe.

The January transfer window has already been kind to Villa following the deals to bring in Philippe Coutinho and Robin Olsen on loan deals, plus the £25million signing of Lucas Digne.

Villa have also added under-23 addition Kerr Smith to their ranks for a fee that could rise up to £2million.

Here, the Claret & Blue: An Aston Villa Podcast clan of , and get together to outline what Gerrard's strongest team could look like after the winter break.

Martinez; Kesler-Hayden, Konsa, Mings, Digne; McGinn, Bentancur, Douglas Luiz; Buendia, J.Ramsey; Watkins.

Now there's possibly a few surprises in there but, for me, there's a lot to like. I've watched Kaine Kesler-Hayden for a while now and I think he's something really special. The kid has got it all, as we witnessed against Man City in the FA Cup earlier this month. Villa rate him highly as well so his challenge now is to dislodge Matty Cash out of the XI.

I'm fully expecting Villa to land top target Rodrigo Bentancur in the coming days as well, with the Uruguayan a classy, ball-winning and ball-playing operator in there. I'm keeping Douglas Luiz in as well, by the way, and I'm excited to see what he can do as a No.8. Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia can press together and both chip in with goals from Gerrard's favoured No.10 positions with Ollie Watkins pipping Danny Ings for a start.

I'm a little aggrieved I can't fit Leon Bailey in here, by the way, because I think