Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was conservative in his approach to his first window in charge of the club in January as the coach did not make major changes to the squad.

The Spanish manager opted for minor adjustments to his roster, potentially due to it being midway through the season, by signing Jhon Duran and Alex Moreno, from Chicago Fire and Real Betis respectively, and allowing Danny Ings to join West Ham.

Moreno has come in to fight it out with Lucas Digne for a starting spot at left-back and has made six Premier League appearances since arriving at Villa Park.

The former Everton defender has struggled this season and needed competition to push him. He has averaged an underwhelming Sofascore rating of 6.68 across 18 outings in the top flight - making 2.1 tackles and interceptions per game and winning 52% of his defensive duels.

His Sofascore rating places him 14th in the squad and his poor form suggests that the dud is not living up to his £25m price tag, which could open up a debate around his future heading into the summer.

If all goes well, Moreno could become the first choice in that position and Emery could ditch Digne from the club by cashing in on him ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Could Sebastian Revan replace Lucas Digne at Aston Villa?

The Spanish head coach could earn and save NSWE millions in one go by selling the ex-Barcelona full-back and then coaching academy talent Sebastian Revan to make the step up to the first team.

If there is sufficient interest in the defender, Villa could rake in a sizeable fee for Digne as FootballTransfers place his Expected Transfer Value at around £28m (€32m).

Emery could land save the owners millions on a replacement for the Frenchman by unearthing Revan from the U21 side, as the 19-year-old has caught the eye this season.

Earlier this term, the teenager averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.00 in the EFL Trophy for the U21s and made four tackles and interceptions per game - winning 58% of his duels - across two matches.

The dynamo, who already has first-team experience with Grimsby and Hereford on loan, has played 13 times in the Premier League 2 and contributed with one goal and two assists from defence. He is now an experienced player for the U21s as the youngster has made 36 appearances for them to date, after playing 28 matches at U18 level.

His boss at Grimsby, Paul Hurst, hailed the talent as a "very athletic" defender who "impressed" for Villa in the FA Youth Cup, which highlights how well the gem has performed at academy level for the club.

At the age of 19, the battler still has plenty of years left ahead of him to develop and improve with Emery set to benefit from coaching him into becoming a first-team-ready left-back who could replace Digne in the summer - providing Moreno with competition next term.

This would, therefore, prevent NSWE from needing to splash out millions on a new signing to come in as a replacement for the French defender.