Aston Villa are reportedly looking at James Ward-Prowse, Harry Winks and Todd Cantwell in a bid to add midfield reinforcements this summer.
Dean Smith has already seen Emiliano Buendia and Ashley Young arrive in this window to bolster his squad, addressing key issues in attack and defence respectively.
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However, with Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Marvelous Nakamba as our main options to play in the two deeper-lying midfield roles in Smith’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system, more quality and depth will perhaps be needed ahead of next season to ensure we can compete at the top level.
According to The Telegraph, two names are on the Villa transfer radar this summer to address that concern, with the club said to have expressed an interest in Ward-Prowse already, while we’re monitoring Winks who could seemingly emerge as an alternative option.
Ward-Prowse, 26, was a key figure for Southampton again last season, scoring nine goals and providing seven assists in 44 appearances across all competitions.
Given his importance to the Saints, it would arguably be difficult to prise him away, but time will tell if Villa launch a bid to test their resolve.
In contrast, Winks only made 15 appearances in the Premier League last season as he struggled to cement his place in the Tottenham midfield, but given he’s still only 25 and is a highly talented individual, time will tell if a move to Villa could be the right one to get him back to his best.
As for Cantwell, 23, he’s more of a left-sided midfield player and with tallies of six goals and eight assists in 34 games last season for Norwich City to help them secure promotion, he would perhaps be a more attacking option for Smith in addition to one of the two named above.
Having already raided Norwich once this summer for Buendia, it will be interesting to see if we’re successful if we do launch a second push to sign another of their key players, but for now it appears as though Villa may well be weighing up their options and will look to act in the coming weeks.