Aston Villa’s January now seems bizarre, biggest problem wasn’t addressed in two attempts

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Aston Villa still need a true left back in Dean Smith’s defence.

Aston Villa’s January transfer window doesn’t look too bad on the face of it; they landed a first-choice goalkeeper in Croatian international Lovre Kalinic as well as three loan deals which could become permanent.

Tyrone Mings, Kortney Hause and Tom Carroll have all signed until the end of the season with views to permanent moves, and even teed up a deal for Frederic Guilbert, with the French right back arriving in the summer.

There’s a problem though. Villa came into the January transfer window needing a left back. It was painfully obvious that a natural left back had to be a priority.

A deal for Hause – who can play centre back and left back – looked strong, providing that he was competition for the two spots whilst also landing a pure, true left back to replace the struggling Neil Taylor.

However, Villa then signed a player with the same versatility in Mings. So far, he has played at centre back, with Hause mostly on the bench as Taylor has managed to stay in the first team at left back.

Mings or Hause could switch when James Chester or Axel Tuanzebe are back playing, but that still leaves major questions marks over the position when Villa needed a clear answer.

Taylor isn’t the player that Villa need at left back; he has shown in his two years at Villa Park that he isn’t the player he once was, and Villa’s inability to bring in a clear first-choice left back now seems bizarre.

Hause can’t get into the side, Mings is playing at centre back and after two signings to try and solve the problem, Villa’s left back spot remains a mystery under Dean Smith, and must be addressed in the summer once Mings and Hause have their true positions at Villa figured out.