Realistic Summer Transfer Target for Aston Villa

Aston Villa bucked the trend with the arrival of this season's transfer window. They acted quickly and did a large chunk of their business—quite possibly all of their business—very early on.

Manager Paul Lambert seemed intent on acquiring as many new faces as possible, as early as possible, thus appeasing the fans who, for many years, have groaned in frustration at the lack of transfer activity until the latter stages of the offseason.

And, of course, a flurry of new faces arriving in the final few days inhibits the team from getting off on the right foot. The foot that Villa struggled to find for the majority of last season.

The Midlands-based outfit have made six signings so far this summer. Six signings that very few fans would have known anything about.

When Lambert was appointed Villa boss back in June 2012, he, along with chairman Randy Lerner, quite clearly had a direction in which the club was going to be taken in.

The substantial wage bill needed to be cut. This is something which has been identified with the outgoing transfers of high-profile stars such as Richard Dunne and Jean Makoun as well as the impending transfer of Darren Bent.

Another aim of Lambert's was to incorporate as many of the club's young guns into the team as possible—something that almost proved fatal as they only narrowly avoided relegation.

Yet, the philosophy remains the same, with the average age of the aforementioned six new signings just 21.

The promising news for fans of the Villans, however, is that Lambert has strengthened across the entire team while spending in excess of £11 million. Goalkeeper Jed Steer, defenders Jores Okore and Antonio Luna, midfielders Leandro Bacuna and Aleksandar Tonev as well as striker Nicklas Helenius have all arrived to bolster a squad that severely lacked strength in depth last season.

Perhaps the Villa boss' greatest achievement this summer has been retaining the services of top goalscorer Christian Benteke, who recently signed a new deal which will keep him at the club until 2017.

The Belgian international is likely to carry the weight of Villa's goal scoring expectation next season, something that the striker told Sky Sports he is confident in doing. 

"

I feel good, I feel really good. I expect myself to do better than last season.

As a striker, a lot of people are waiting for me. The fans are waiting for me. So the pressure is going to be bigger around me but this is football and I accept that. 

I can take that. I am young. I am confident. This is part of football. You have to be able to handle this pressure. This is the life I have chosen so I am happy to take this on. I love it.

"

If the transfer window closed tomorrow, Paul Lambert would be relatively happy with the squad he has assembled. However, one name keeps popping up that could be on his way to Villa before midnight on August 31.

Hiroshi Kiyotake

The Japanese midfielder has been linked with a move to the Midlands since June, with Sporting Life reporting that Villa had an offer in the region of £7.5 million rejected by Kiyotake's club Nuremberg.

The German outfit's general manager Martin Bader told local newspaper Nurnberger Nachrichter that the 23-year-old was not for sale.

"

I am able to confirm this transfer enquiry from Aston Villa.

We have made it clear to Aston Villa we have no interest nor intention to sell the player.

"

Despite failing in an initial bid, the Mirror are reporting that Villa are back in for the all-action midfielder but must offload unwanted players in order to clear funds for the transfer.

Darren Bent, Barry Bannan, Alan Hutton, Nathan Delfouneso, Shay Given, Stephen Ireland and Enda Stevens are all in line to be moved on, so it looks unlikely that Villa will move for Kiyotake until a number of these players have been sold.