With Aston Villa having signed the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne during the current January transfer window, it seems as though they could have a challenge on their hands when it comes to the next summer transfer window and trying to keep hold of one of the key players in Steven Gerrard's squad.

What's the news?

According to a recent report from The Telegraph, Villa midfielder John McGinn has been identified as a summer transfer target for fellow Premier League side Manchester United.

The report also claims the United's technical director Darren Fletcher is apparently a big fan of McGinn and would welcome his potential arrival at Old Trafford.

Fans would be fuming

Villa signed McGinn from Scottish club Hibernian back in the 2018 summer transfer window when they were still in the Championship.

Since then, the midfielder has gone on to make 129 appearances for the Midlands club across all competitions, scoring 16 goals and providing 21 assists along the way, highlighting how much of an important figure he has been for the team.

The £27m-rated dynamo has been an ever-present figure for Villa this season as well, with Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa being the only outfield players to have racked up more minutes in the Premier League than McGinn.

The Scotland international has also been the subject of heavy praise by Gerrard as well with the former Rangers boss describing McGinn's passing ability in their 2-1 win over Leicester City in early December as "outstanding."

With WhoScored currently listing the 27-year-old as the highest-rated Villa player to have started more than one Premier League game this season with an overall rating of 7.14/10, this backs up why he'd be a big miss for Villa if he were to leave in the summer.

Taking all of this into account, it would be nothing short of a disaster if the Midlands outfit were to sell the Scot this summer to United given how important he is to the side, especially just months after losing fellow talisman Jack Grealish. To lose both in such a short space of time, would understandably leave supporters rather angry.

Moving forward, with his current contract not set to expire until the summer of 2025, it could be worth Villa's owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris encouraging McGinn to stick with Villa and help them reach the club's aspirations of securing European football in the future.

In other news: Deal agreed: Fabrizio Romano delivers Villa transfer update, Lange is working wonders - opinion