Aston Villa have already made substantial efforts in strengthening their squad during the current January transfer window by adding the duo of Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne to their ranks.

With two weeks left until the window closes and chief executive Christian Purslow recently claiming that there are "one or two other things" they would like to get done in terms of transfers before the end of the month, one area of their squad that the Midlands club should now be looking to add to is at centre-back.

Having seen Axel Tuanzebe leave Villa Park earlier this month, a space has now opened up in Villa's squad for a new centre-back to come in alongside the likes of Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause.

One potential centre-back that could realistically sign a deal with Villa within the next two weeks and join Gerrard's squad, is Liverpool's 24-year-old defender Nat Phillips, who has been mentioned with a move away from the Merseyside club this month.

On a short-term basis, Phillips, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £19k-per-week according to Salary Sport, would be a useful asset for Villa, not only due to Tuanzebe's absence but also because of the injury Konsa picked up in their recent 2-2 draw against Manchester United that could keep him out for a period of time.

In a long-term regard, with Phillips' fairly young age and the fact that Hause's contract is set to expire in the summer, signing the Liverpool man could be a good piece of business from Villa if they get him on a long contract and Gerrard manages to embed him into the team successfully, which would presumably be tempting for Phillips given his lack of game time at Anfield this season.

Having played across the Premier League and Champions League for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, who has praised the 24-year-old in the past for his "insane" performances for the Reds, Phillips could be seen as a potential upgrade on Hause despite being younger than the current Villa defender.

In the Premier League last term, the Villa target won a whopping 5.6 aerial duels per game compared to Hause's 3.2 this term. Meanwhile, Phillips is also a more efficient tackler, prevailing in 1.3 per match in comparison to the 0.5 won by their current option at the back.

Therefore it is worth Gerrard making a call to his former club to see if they would be willing to work out a deal for the defender before the end of the month.

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