Report: Villa ready to spend on young French left back

After seeing last year's dysfunctional left back corps at Villa limp to the finish line that was Premier League safety, Tim Sherwood knew without question that left back was one of the most important areas to address in his first transfer window while at the helm of Aston Villa.

Villa have been linked with Everton's Luke Garbutt on loan, FC Copenhagen's Ludwig Augustinsson, and Ajax's Nicolai Boilesen, but none have progressed to advanced stages of a transfer negotiation.

Villa, however, are said to have submitted a £9 million bid for Nice left back Jordan Amavi.

Reports out of both France and England say that a bid of such magnitude is expected to be accepted, a large increase from Villa's reported £5 million opening bid.

Amavi sparkled in the Ligue 1 last season, showing attacking prowess coupled with defensive competency, and has already made 55 first team appearances in the French top flight for Nice.

For his age, he certainly has his fare share of quality experience, in addition to having a massive capacity to mature into a world-class left back, a position where Villa has hopelessly underachieved in the past years.

Villa have also completed the signing of Idrissa Gueye for a reported £9 million from French side Lille, and spending of this sort was not foreseen by many Villa fans, especially before any sort of big-money sale.

Could these bids mean that Sherwood feels a Benteke departure is imminent, does it mean Randy Lerner has been convinced to re-invest into the squad he is trying to sell, or does it mean that a prospective Villa buyer has given the financial go-ahead to restore Villa to its past glory?

While it remains to be seen what will happen with this transfer window and what will happen with new ownership, one thing is as clear as ever: Tim Sherwood is trying to get things done.