With three players added to their senior squad earlier in the current January transfer window, Aston Villa still have enough time to strengthen their side even further before the window closes.

One player that has been mentioned with a move to Villa in the past that journalist Ashley Preece revealed is "admired" by the Midlands club is Manchester United's £10m valued attacking-midfielder Jesse Lingard.

Using Villa's transfer swoop for Lucas Digne this month as an example, he was going through a rough patch at his previous club Everton after it was reported that he had a behind-the-scenes falling out with Rafa Benitez that arguably pushed the full-back out of the door which then led to what Christian Purslow described as an "opportunistic" move from Villa to sign the Frenchman.

Taking that into account, a move for Lingard could also be seen as an opportunistic deal that Villa could look to pounce on before the end of the month given his current situation at United with his deal set to run out at the end of the season after assurances over his playing time in this campaign have failed to come to fruition.

This term has made just nine appearances with no starts in the Premier League after a very successful loan spell with West Ham United last term where he scored nine goals and provided five assists in 16 league appearances.

This highlights just how far down the pecking order he is at the Manchester club and why a move away to a club where he'd be more likely to get regular game time would be tempting for the England international, especially if he can discover the same sort of form.

From United's point of view, potentially selling Lingard, who has been described as a "phenomenal" player in the past by Kevin Phillips, on a permanent transfer for a suitable fee could be more enticing for the club than letting him leave as a free agent in the summer if he doesn't renew his contract.

This could then pave the way for Villa to continue their January spending with Johan Lange adding a player with a lot of Premier League experience such as Lingard to their squad and replicate a similar sort of deal that they made for Digne.

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