Newcastle £35m blockbuster transfer could wreck Aston Villa plan for Steven Gerrard

Aston Villa could face more competition in their bid to land Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur this month.

The clock is ticking on the January transfer window and Villa have until 11pm on Monday night to make their final acquisition of the winter market.

Villa brought in players to cover the positions they wanted to this month apart from a defensive midfielder, with December's injury to Marvelous Nakamba highlighting the need for a traditional midfield anchor.

Nakamba suffered a knee injury that required surgery with the Zimbabwe international set to be sidelined for about four months.

Bentancur has been identified as a potential option but as the window approaches its end and clubs start to make moves ahead of the deadline Villa could face a challenge to land the Uruguayan.

According to The Athletic, French side Olympique Lyon are interested in making a move for Bentancur or Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Giovani Lo Celso as they look to bring in a replacement for Bruno Guimaraes.

Guimaraes is set to sign for Newcastle United in a £35 million deal that would leave Lyon flush with cash and able to quickly do a deal for one of their transfer targets.

They could force Villa into a bidding war for Bentancur and drive Steven Gerrard's side out of negotiations.

Lyon are said to have begun discussions about a move for Bentancur, who is said to be available for about £21m this month.

Spurs could let Lo Celso go this month with the Argentine not in Antonio Conte's plans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Villa have been active this month and made their fifth signing of the window with the surprise arrival of Calum Chambers from Arsenal.

Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne, Robin Olsen and Kerr Smith have also been recruited