Over the past few years, Aston Villa's owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris have shown that they are not shy when it comes to spending money on bringing new players to the club that can help push the club forward.

With that in mind, it seems as though the Villans could be set for another busy transfer period when the summer window opens.

What's the talk?

During a recent online Q&A on the Birmingham Live website, journalist Ashley Preece was asked what the summer transfer window could look like for the Midlands club in terms of how much money they could spend in it.

In response, Preece had this to say on the matter.

"I said this once the January window closed two weeks ago, [Steven] Gerrard's summer budget will be handsome. He'll be given what's required to finally see Villa in Europe come 2023. There could be huge amounts spent," he revealed.

Fans will be thrilled

After selling Jack Grealish to fellow Premier League club Manchester City last summer for a British record fee of £100m, Villa then used that money to bring in three new attacking players in the shape of Danny Ings, Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey.

More recently, Villa managed to bring in left-back Lucas Digne from Everton for a reported fee of £25m, which Christian Purslow described as an "opportunistic" move from the club.

Even though they've seen their club be very active in the transfer market for a few years now, the Villa fans will still be over the moon by the possibility of seeing the club splash out further significant amounts of cash once again when the summer window opens.

With there still being a long way to go until the season ends and the transfer window opens for business, this will provide enough time for Gerrard and his coaching staff to identify the areas in his squad that need strengthening.

If Villa can end the campaign in the top half of the table or around the European places in the league table, this could give them a better chance of being able to lure top quality players to Villa Park.

With the right backing, Gerrard could well steer the Midlands outfit towards a lucrative place in Europe, just as Preece suggests.

In other news: Forget Buendia: Gerrard must unleash Aston Villa's £85k-p/w gem who “can do anything” - opinion