Aston Villa are interested in a move to bring Jesse Lingard to Villa Park in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Birmingham Live, who claim that Steven Gerrard could look to make the Manchester United attacking midfielder one of the first signings of his tenure at Villa Park, with the 28-year-old looking set to leave Old Trafford in the winter market.

Indeed, a recent report by The Sun claimed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be willing to part with the England international for as little as £10m in the January transfer window, as Lingard's current contract is due to expire at the end of the season.

Furthermore, Birmingham Live also reported earlier this month that the midfielder's exclusion from Gareth Southgate's recent England squad is yet another reason the former West Ham United loanee will be looking to move onto pastures new this winter, something that would appear to bode well for Villa's chances of securing a deal for Lingard.

Lange must move

Considering just how impressive Lingard was upon his loan move to East London last season, the argument that Johan Lange should make a move to bring the 28-year-old to Villa Park when January comes around is a rather easy one to make.

Indeed, over his 16 Premier League appearances for the Hammers, the £19.8m-rated man scored nine goals, registered five assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Adrian Durham dubbed "absolutely phenomenal" average a SofaScore match rating of 7.19, with his performances playing a key role in West Ham's qualification for the Europa League, in addition ranking him as David Moyes' best player in the top flight of English football.

Indeed, there are clear comparisons between Lingard's returns last season and that of Gerrard's former star man at Rangers, Ryan Kent, who scored ten goals, provided 11 assists and created nine big chances over his 37 Scottish Premiership fixtures last term - with these metrics seeing the 25-year-old earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.23.

As such, it would indeed appear highly advisable for Lange to do everything in his power to bring Lingard to Villa Park this winter, and the £80k-per-week midfielder would undoubtedly be an extremely useful option in Gerrard's favoured three-man attack.

In other news: NSWE must grant Gerrard's AVFC wish for "amazing" £4.9k-p/w gem, he'd be a big coup