Former Aston Villa midfielder Jonathan Hogg was a regular under the recently departed Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner.
If there was one statistic that stood out to signify Aston Villa’s problems over the course of this season then it would be the number of goals they have conceded.
Under Steve Bruce and Dean Smith, Villa have shipped 43 goals from their 27 Championship matches – to put that into perspective, they only conceded 42 during the previous campaign.
On Monday evening, Huddersfield announced on their official website that manager David Wagner has left the club, with his side sitting bottom of the Premier League table.
As a result of his departure, Villa should look to target the Yorkshire club’s captain Jonathan Hogg, who came through the ranks at B6 as a youngster.
The Terriers are managerless, bottom of the league and eight points adrift of safety as Wagner’s departure all but signals that the club’s relegation to the Championship will happen.
Putting both factors into account, Villa should use this to sign defensive-midfielder Hogg, who would be an upgrade on what the club has in the middle of the park, from a defensive standpoint.
The 30-year-old would get ahead of Glenn Whelan and he holds the edge, in terms of experience and playing in the Premier League, over someone like Birkir Bjarnason.
Added with that, Mile Jedinak is yet to feature under Smith, while Henri Lansbury continues to battle with injury problems as Villa can no longer rely on the former Arsenal man.
Hogg’s ability to read the defensive side of the game would be crucial to Villa because a number of their players have switched off a number of times when defending their goal.
The 2016 promotion winner would also add energy to Villa’s midfield and wouldn’t hurt the club’s pockets when it comes to FFP.
Whilst the Premier League player may not be the big-name signing Villa fans are looking for, the club have already proven in these last two seasons that adding those types of players has not worked
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