Aston Villa have been one of the Premier League's most proactive clubs when it comes to the transfer market over the past few years.

Last summer's transfer window saw the Villans bring in three new attacking players, with Jack Grealish making his record-breaking £100m move to Manchester City.

Once the January window opened, things got busy behind the scenes at Villa Park again as four new players came in, with a number of others making moves away from the club.

While some may see this as a successful period for the club in terms of their transfer business, there is one player with whom the Villans were linked but didn't end up at Villa Park which the hierarchy may now be regretting - Ryan Kent.

Having made 138 appearances under Steven Gerrard during his time as Rangers boss, scoring 28 goals and providing 33 assists along the way, it's no surprise that the Midlands club were mentioned with a move for the Englishman after Gerrard was appointed at Villa Park in November.

In 32 appearances across all competitions for the Scottish champions so far this season, the £12.6m-rated attacker has scored two goals and provided an impressive 15 assists along the way, showing just how much of an attacking threat he offers.

While having the same number of goals, the Gers star has racked up considerably more assists than Emi Buendia (three) in the Argentine's debut season with the Villans after coming in last summer for a club-record fee.

Labelled a "game-changer" in the past by Gerrard, Kent has earned himself an overall performance rating of 7.29/10 from WhoScored, which would make him the second-highest rated player in Villa's squad by the same metric.

Taking into account what the winger has done for Rangers this season, there could be plenty of regret from the Villa hierarchy over not securing a deal for him when they had their chance.

With the likes of Trezeguet currently out on loan and Bertrand Traore struggling with injuries and form, we think that the club should definitely consider getting rid of one or both of these players and see if Rangers would be willing to negotiate a deal for their attacking gem when the summer transfer window opens.

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