Aston Villa renew the most unexpected contract

First it was Gabby Agbonlahor who got a new contract. And many of us clamored for more commitments, wanting to see Jack Grealish, Fabian Delph, or Ron Vlaar put pen to paper. But while Villa have kept the contract train rolling, today we get the least expected extension of them all: Alan Hutton has signed a new deal that will keep him with Villa through the 2016-17 season. The Scottish right back has played a vital role in the newly revitalized Villa defense this season, but it's hard not to be amazed at how quickly his fortunes with the club have turned. He came here under Alex McLeish and was terrible and was quickly pushed to the "bomb squad" by Paul Lambert, under whom he didn't see the pitch for two years.

But it's hard to argue that he hasn't earned himself a deal with his play thus far. Four impressive performances have shown us that the 29-year-old may not be the player many of us (myself included) thought he was. The terms of the contract aren't known, but it's hard to imagine that he's getting any more than the £40,000 a week he was speculated to be on before.

And while this signing isn't a bad thing, it points to the fact that Villa obviously have some money to move around on contracts. That little fact makes the need to sign Delph, Grealish, and Vlaar even more pressing. Perhaps it's new club CEO Tom Fox who has worked the magic of getting more money from Randy Lerner, or maybe it's been Paul Lambert. Regardless, whoever is doing it needs to keep it up for a little bit longer.