Who Aston Villa are going to sign this summer is anyone's guess at the moment but you can bet that there are going to be a lot of links concerning the Villans.

The likes of Tyrone Mings, Axel Tuanzebe and Tammy Abraham are players that fans want to see stay put after successful loan spells, but actually keeping them all is going to prove a different task altogether.

Away from that, though, Dean Smith will also be looking to add to his side in other areas and from other clubs, which brings us to the Joe Lolley link.

Sky Sports - among others - has reported that Villa might like to sign one of their supporters from Nottingham Forest in a deal that would certainly be intriguing.

One of the Reds' best players last season - if not the best - Lolley is certainly one to watch next year if he remains in the second tier.

However, when your boyhood club comes calling and wants you to play in the Premier League, can you really turn it down?

It has a romantic feel to it, for sure, but Villa must also be cautious before forking out for the winger.

Undoubtedly, he is a fine player but question marks will remain over him after his last Premier League stint with Huddersfield.

Indeed, he never really forced himself into the side once the Terriers were promoted and, duly, ended up at Forest.

That may well play on Dean Smith's mind, then, as, though he'll no doubt be committed to the Villa cause, if he doesn't perform then it'll be a wasted transfer.

Villa are likely to want to sign a new winger this summer and have money to spend but it's not a bottomless pit of cash; they cannot afford to be careless.

Lolley, though, has always been a player ready to prove doubts about him wrong and, to be fair, he'd be playing in a Villa side that has more firepower and a better system than Huddersfield did in the Premier League.

He's in the form of his life, too, so whilst there'll be doubts to reckon with, it perhaps shouldn't put Villa off - if they can strike the right package.