Unai Emery will be given his first opportunity to stamp his own mark on the Aston Villa squad when the January transfer window opens next month.

He may want to bring in a few fresh additions to improve the squad in order to push up the table and compete in the top half, instead of against relegation.

The Birmingham Mail's Ashley Preece told supporters to "keep an eye" on Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha when asked who the club will look to sign during the upcoming window.

When asked about whether or not the Villans should swoop for the attacker, former player Gabriel Agbonlahor told Football Insider:

“Wilfried Zaha is a top player. Any club in the Premier League would love to have him.

“If Villa can get him on a free transfer it would be a great signing. He is what we are missing on that left side.”

Emery must now push the Villa board to sign the attacker, who is reportedly on £130k-per-week, as he would be a phenomenal addition to the side.

He is a proven Premier League performer, thanks to his many years of experience with Palace, who would add a huge goal threat out on the left flank.

Tony Cascarino previously told talkSPORT that the winger is almost "unplayable" and "causes havoc" when he is at his best, which he has been regularly over the past 18 months.

The Ivory Coast international has plundered six goals and two assists in 13 Premier League appearances for the Eagles this season, averaging a Sofascore rating of 6.95. Meanwhile, Danny Ings is Villa's top goalscorer with five strikes and no attacking midfielder or forward has averaged a higher rating than 6.88 in the top flight.

This comes after the former Manchester United winger produced 14 goals and one assist in 33 outings in the division, averaging a score of 6.98 last term. No winger, or number 10, managed more than six goals for the Villans in the league last season and this suggests that Zaha is, as Agbonlahor claimed, what Emery is currently missing out wide.

The 30-year-old wing wizard is out of contract at the end of the campaign and the club must now swoop for him in January by convincing Palace to part ways for a fee instead of risking losing him for nothing in the summer.

His statistics suggest that he would be a huge upgrade on Emery's current Villa wingers, due to his ability to score goals in the Premier League, and that is why he is a player who is worth pursuing in the next window.