Aston Villa are currently embarking on their first season in the Championship following last season's disastrous relegation from the Premier League. 

Despite the relegation, this has not stopped Villa from splashing the cash, with big money signings like Jonathan Kodjia and Ross McCormack costing over £20m between the pair.

However, the jury will be out on the two strikers, who will be hoping not to become victim to being classed over-hyped failures.

Over the years, the Villans have had many players who fall into this category, and fans will no doubt remember many a youngster or big money signing who have had all the billing, but ultimately failed to do anything to live up to it.

Players like this often drift into the wilderness, with neutral fans often forgetting they even existed, however for Villa fans, they will remember them all too well no doubt.

Here, FLW writer Lee Connor identifies THREE Aston Villa players who failed to live up to the hype surrounding them...

Charles N'Zogbia

Oh dear, what else needs to be said about the £9m man other than he was a complete disaster.

Signed in 2011, N'Zogbia was expected to fill a void in the Villa line-up and bring some pace and flair to their wing play, signing a five-year deal at the time.

However, the former Newcastle man never got going for one reason or another, and after seeing out the remainder of his contract, signed for French side Nantes in the summer just gone.

Players like N'Zogbia are often given big credit for the decline of the club, and it is easy to see why.

Bosko Balaban

A lot of younger readers will not have a clue who this is, but many who have watched the Villa for many a year will know exactly who he is.

Balaban was signed off the back of an excellent season with Dinamo Zagreb, with much expected of the Croatian when he made the switch to the Midlands.

However, Balaban was a complete flop. He failed to hit the net, and a couple of niggling injuries meant he never got going in a Villa shirt. Balaban would be loaned back out after a year, and then would be released after two-years of his deal.

Balaban is one of those players that will stick in the memory, but for all the wrong reasons.

Julian Joachim

Despite not being the worst player on this list, and despite not actually having that bad a record for Villa, Julian Joachim just never lived up to the player he looked like he would become as a youngster.

As a youngster at Leicester, Joachim really did look like becoming the next big thing in terms of English strikers, but ultimately never quite reached those levels.

After leaving Villa, a series of niggling injuries and seemingly ever increasing waistline led to Joachim sliding down the leagues, and spells with Coventry and then Leeds failed to produce any sort of real form, before numerous moves in the non-league game saw him become an almost forgotten journeyman striker.

Villa fans, what do you think to this list? Who goes down for you as not living up to the hype? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!