With 25 strikes conceded in the Premier League so far this season, Aston Villa have let more goals in than Burnley, Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Taking this into account, the upcoming January transfer window could provide the Midlands club and Steven Gerrard with the opportunity to bring some reinforcements into the club, particularly in the defensive areas.

One deal that the club could look to do to strengthen the squad up at the back is by signing Rangers centre-back Connor Goldson, who Villa are reportedly in the frame to sign in January according to journalist Peter O'Rourke.

It was previously reported that Goldson had rejected the chance to sign a new deal with the Scottish club in an effort to join a Premier League club, which could pave the way for Gerrard to reunite with the defender after the 29-year-old made a total of 182 appearances under the current Villa boss at Rangers, scoring 17 goals and providing five assists in the process.

Labelled as a player with "incredible leadership" on and off the pitch by Gerrard, signing Goldson in January could be a dream move for the Villa manager to help give some guidance to Villa's younger defenders such as Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause and Axel Tuanzebe.

Since joining Rangers back in the 2018 summer transfer window from Brighton in a deal worth a reported fee of around £3m, Goldson has gone on to make 188 appearances for the club across all competitions, showing how vital he has been for the team since his arrival and why they would presumably prefer to keep hold of him for the remainder of the season.

This season has seen the defender, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £27k-per-week according to Salary Sport, play in all but two of Rangers' games across all competitions, completing the full 90 minutes in all of them, highlighting him importance to the club.

With Villa also linked with a move for Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez, Goldson could be a much cheaper alternative than the England international.

That's when you take into account his advanced age and the presumption that the Reds would want more money for their player than Rangers would want for their asset, especially with his contract set to run out at the end of the season.

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