Aston Villa are interested in a deal to bring Connor Goldson to Villa Park in the January transfer window.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by Birmingham Live, who claim that Rangers have already identified their number one target to replace the centre-back this winter, amid the 28-year-old's links with a move to Steven Gerrard's side.

Furthermore, in a recent interview with Football Insider, Paddy Kenny suggested that the Scottish Premiership side could be happy to let the defender leave Ibrox in the January transfer window, as the fact the league champions have not yet renewed Goldson's contract is rather strange.

Speaking about the centre-back's contract situation, Kenny said: "I find it strange that Rangers haven't sorted this. The fact that they have let it run down this far is a concern. They must know he can agree a pre-contract in January.

"Maybe Rangers are happy for him to move on, otherwise it makes no sense why they haven't offered him a deal. As a player, if he has the option to follow Gerrard that might be something he considers.

"There is still time for them to sort a new deal out but it worries me that they haven't got anything signed considering how big of a player he is for them."

Lange must move

Considering just how important a player Goldson was for Gerrard during his time in Scotland, should a move for the 28-year-old be realistic in the January transfer window, it would appear highly advisable for Johan Lange to do all he can to lure the 6 foot 3 defender to Villa Park this winter.

Indeed, over his 38 Scottish Premiership appearances during Gers' title-winning campaign last season, the £6.75m-rated man helped his side keep a mammoth 26 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 0.9 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, three clearances and winning 6.8 duels per game.

The player who Gerrard himself dubbed a "next level" centre-back also impressed going forwards, scoring four goals, registering two assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.1 shots and making 0.5 key passes per fixture.

These returns saw the £27k-per-week defender earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.39, ranking him as the club's third-best performer in the top flight of Scottish football.

As such, it is clear to see that Goldson would make a fantastic addition to an Aston Villa defence that has already shipped 20 league goals so far this season, and, considering he is reported to be available for a bargain fee of just £2m, is also a player who Lange and Villa could easily afford.

In other news: Alan Nixon drops promising AVFC transfer claim that'll surely leave fans buzzing