Aston Villa recently appointed Unai Emery to replace Steven Gerrard in the dugout and the Spanish head coach is already looking at potential signings for the upcoming January transfer window.

The former Villarreal manager will have his first opportunity to bring his own players into Villa Park in just under two months as the market reopens for business at the start of 2023.

One player he reportedly has his eye on is Inter central midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu. It has been claimed that the Villa boss wants to snap the Turkey international up and would be willing to send Philippe Coutinho to the Italian side in exchange.

However, the Serie A giants are not interested in a swap deal, including the Brazilian playmaker, and this means that the English side may well need to splash the cash in order to get a move over the line.

Irrespective of whether or not Coutinho is directly involved in the negotiations, Emery could land a big upgrade on the ex-Liverpool gem by securing a swoop for Calhanoglu in January.

The £156k-per-week maestro, who was once hailed as a "world-class" set-piece taker by Carlo Garganese, is one of the best playmakers in European football - ranking in the 99th percentile among players in his position in Europe's top five leagues in the last 365 days for assists, shot-creating actions, and expected assisted goals per 90.

These statistics show that he is dining at the top table when it comes to creating high-quality chances consistently over the past year for Inter.

Coutinho, meanwhile, ranks in the 43rd percentile or lower in all three measurements and this suggests that the Turkish creator would offer far more than the current Villa man when it comes to creating opportunities in the final third.

The Brazil international has scored five goals in 31 Premier League appearances for the club in 2022, whilst Calhanoglu has scored nine times in 48 Serie A matches since the start of last season.

There is not a major difference in the goalscoring output that they provide but couple it with the gigantic gap between their respective chance creation numbers over the past year and it seems as though the Inter man would be a sizeable upgrade on Coutinho for Villa.

Therefore, Emery must push for the club to secure a deal for the 28-year-old playmaker in January as he has the quality to improve the team with his fantastic ability to score and provide goals at the top level.