Aston Villa had a baptism of fire into life in the second tier.

The Birmingham-based club had never been relegated in the Premier League era until the 2015/16 season saw them drop to the Championship.

The summer appointment of former Champions League winning manager Roberto Di Matteo stirred up some excitement among Villa fans, but he ended up being the wrong profile of manager for that level and catastrophically left Aston Villa just above the relegation zone before being sacked.

Steve Bruce has since come in and steadied the ship, leading Aston Villa to four games unbeaten - two wins and two draws - and now they sit 15th in the league.

Bruce knows, however, that he will need to add some new faces to the squad in January. There is plenty of deadwood that needs shifting and he could use the January window as an opportunity to complete a squad overhaul.

Here are TWO players that he could target from Arsenal in January...

 

Rob Holding

rob-holdingd2s

Rob Holding joined Arsenal from Bolton in the summer and has five times for the Gunners since his switch.

However he sits behind Gabriel, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi in the pecking order so the 21-year-old centre half might be shipped out on loan.

The England under-21 international has Championship experience from his time at Bolton and he would provide competition for Nathan Baker, James Chester and Tommy Elphick at centre back.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide

Jeff Reine-Adelaide

If you had to pick one position where Aston Villa are light, it would be wingers and creative midfielders.

Albert Adomah and Jack Grealish are the only real first-team quality natural wingers so France youth international Jeff Reine-Adelaide might be a good option to have in the attacking midfield ranks.

The 18-year-old is a talented prospect with three senior cup appearances for Arsenal under his belt and he would benefit from a loan spell to the Championship.