Recap: Every move that Aston Villa made in the January transfer window

Aston Villa have had an extremely busy January transfer window that stands in stark contrast to last year’s total lack of activity. Here are the final moves that the club made as they look to chase a promotion playoff spot under manager Steve Bruce. Tell us what you think of the dealings in the comments below!

Players Brought In

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Henri Lansbury
Position: Midfield
Original club: Nottingham Forest
Fee: £2.75 million
Story: “Henri Lansbury brings promise, creativity and energy to a Villa side sorely needing it. Lansbury has contributed six goals and three assists to the Forest cause thus far this season, which compares nicely to Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia who has scored nine goals with a single assist.”

Sam Johnstone (Loan)
Position: Goalkeeper
Original club: Manchester United
Story: “It is unclear whether this move will be made permanent, or if an option exists in the loan contract between Manchester United and Aston Villa, but one must ask questions - mainly, what is the damn point? Villa have the cash to make a major play for a keeper and if they are simply loaning Johnstone, does that hint at a big move in the summer?”

James Bree
Position: Defense
Original club: Barnsley
Fee: £3 million
Story: “Despite the Barnsley youngster catching the eye of some major Premier League players, Bree has chosen Aston Villa as is playing destination. It’s likely that Bree will replace Alan Hutton at right-back for Villa, but don’t be surprised if Bruce refuses to rush him in.”

Birkir Bjarnason
Position: Midfield
Original club: FC Basel
Fee: Unknown
Story: “Birkir is known for his determination and work rate, statistics that one can’t really quantify - yet attributes that will be worth their weight in gold to a Villa team that shows no determination to push forward.”

Conor Hourihane
Position: Midfield
Original club: Barnsley
Fee: Unknown
Story: “Hourihane is a gifted player who has done extremely well for Barnsley thus far in the Championship. Conor has scored five goals and made twelve assists in his twenty four appearances for ‘The Tykes’ this season. It’s almost like he’s playing this game on easy mode.”

Scott Hogan
Position: Striker
Original club: Brentford
Fee: ~£9 million
Story: “Hogan’s a regular goal scorer for Brentford and will link up with Villa’s current beast up front, Jonathan Kodjia in the hope that a real partnership can be formed. That being said, Ross McCormack is a proven goalscorer and well - that didn’t work out did it?”

Jacob Bedeau
Position: Defense
Original club: Bury
Fee: ~£600,000
Story: “It seems unlikely that the defender will have too much of a role to play this season given the fact that Nathan Baker and James Chester have the central defense spots on lock. Nevertheless, if he can get some playing time, he has the potential to grow into a regular starter at Aston Villa.”

Neil Taylor
Position: Defense
Original club: Swansea
Fee: Jordan Ayew
Story: “While it might not be a blockbuster signing for Villa and while Taylor does have his flaws, the left-back comes with a fine recommendation from arguably Villa’s best player, James Chester. A back four of Taylor, Baker, Chester and Bree at least sounds more secure. This also allows Amavi to be deployed on the wing, robbing him of the defensive duties he lacks skill at anyway.”

Players headed out

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Rudy Gestede
Position: Striker
Sent to: Middlesbrough
Fee: £6 million
Story: “Left out of the squad for Villa’s trip to Cardiff, it became clear that Villa could have used Gestede. Without a solid midfield presence, Bruce’s team continued to pump the ball forward without finding much success.”

Aly Cissokho (Loan)
Position: Defense
Sent to: Olympiacos
Story: “Olympiacos have an option to buy at the end of the deal -- so it is likely the left back has made his last appearance in the claret and blue.”

Pierluigi Gollini (Loan)
Position: Goalkeeper
Sent to: Atalanta
Story: “Weirdly, the loan deal isn’t until the end of the season - it’s actually an 18-month deal with no option to buy. This means Gollini could be away from Villa right up until the end of next season. This doesn’t correlate with the loan of Sam Johnstone, which expires in June.”

Aaron Tshibola (Loan)
Position: Midfield
Sent to: Nottingham Forest
Story: “It’s fair to say that Aaron Tshibola hasn’t been given a fair crack of the whip since joining Aston Villa and despite a few good touches here and there, is finding himself out of favour at Villa Park, with Aston Villa now having an abundance of talented midfielders.”

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Ashley Westwood
Position: Midfield
Sent to: Burnley
Fee: £5 million
Story: “On his day, Westwood can be a strong midfield commander, and glimpses of that ability kept managers coming back to him. But fans and managers alike seemed to tire of his penchant for disappearing for long stretches of time. When he was bad it usually wasn’t in the “actively detrimental” sense but rather in the “where is he?” one.”

Jordan Ayew
Position: Forward
Sent to: Swansea City
Fee: £6 million + Neil Taylor
Story: “Villa will say goodbye to Jordan Ayew as part of this deal, but he hasn’t seen the pitch lately anyway as part of his AFCON duties with Ghana.”

Ross McCormack (Loan)
Position: Forward
Sent to: Nottingham Forest
Story: “McCormack came in with an impressive goal scoring record — and has not succeeded for Villa. The £12-million man did not make the trip to Brentford — with the Manager telling the press “It’s up to Ross to apologise and admit he’s done something wrong... He has to apologize to me and the team. If that happens we will get on with it.”