Dean Smith has Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Morgan Sanson, Marvelous Nakamba and Conor Hourihane at his disposal, but he’s trying to sign another midfielder this summer.

Aston Villa have been linked with Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse and Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe without making progress, but the Telegraph say they also have Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Winks on their radar.  

There has been an underwhelming response to the rumours on Twitter as Winks is out of favour at Spurs. The 25-year-old made 30 appearances in all competitions last season, but he only started nine Premier League games.  

Winks found himself behind Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko, Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso in the pecking order, so he might be open to a move away to get first-team football.

The England international hasn’t made any public statement of wanting to leave, but he has a lot to consider if Villa put forth an acceptable bid. Time will tell, however, as it’s still early days.

Twitter isn’t jumping for joy at the speculation, but Winks is an improvement on Hourihane and more of a ball-player than Nakamba, so Villa could do a lot worse.

In other news, Twitter talk as Aston Villa enter discussions with Chelsea over Tammy Abraham