The deadline for the January transfer window passed by on Tuesday night and Aston Villa opted against doing any last-minute business to bolster their squad.

Unai Emery, who was managing his first window in charge of the Villans since taking over from Steven Gerrard, only brought in two recruits throughout the month as Alex Moreno and Jhon Duran both came in.

Johan Lange worked with the Spanish coach to add the left-back and young centre-forward to the squad but a number of players in other positions were also linked with moves to Villa Park throughout January.

A centre-back was reportedly on the radar for the club as Ukrainian central defender Ilya Zabarnyi was said to have been a target for the Villans, with The Sun, via Birmingham Mail, reporting that the gem was being eyed by Lange and Emery in the build-up to deadline day.

However, they were beaten to the punch by one of their Premier League rivals as newly-promoted side Bournemouth stepped in to sign the 20-year-old on a permanent basis on the final day of the window.

The Cherries paid a fee in the region of £24m to sign the talented enforcer and their chief Neill Blake said: “Despite only being 20, he has played at the highest level for club and country and has established himself as one of the most sought-after young defenders in the world.”

Despite only turning 20 in September of 2022, the young defender has already been capped a whopping 24 times by Ukraine and made 84 first-team appearances for Dynamo Kyiv, which shows that the defender was outstanding at youth level and was able to force his way into senior contention at a very young age.

Earlier this season, talent scout Jacek Kulig named Zabarnyi as one of two “possible jackpot” centre-back signings teams could make outside of the major European leagues.

This means that Lange may have missed out on striking gold at Villa by allowing Bournemouth to sign the defender instead of them on deadline day.

Zabarnyi, who has already played 30 matches in European competitions, caught the eye in the Champions League last season and showcased the potential that he has to be an excellent player at the very top level.

The machine, who was a teenager at the time, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.87 across six appearances in the competition and made 3.9 tackles and interceptions per game – winning 64% of his duels in total.

Meanwhile, current Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa has averaged a score of 6.85 and made 2.2 tackles and interceptions per game in the Premier League across 20 matches this season.

These statistics suggest that Zabarnyi, who is five years younger than Konsa, could have been an upgrade at the back given that he was able to produce a slightly better level of performance whilst playing at a higher level of competition – in the Champions League.

The 20-year-old’s European form, and international pedigree at his age suggest that the gem has vast potential and could go on to achieve great things if he can continue to develop and kick on in the years to come, which is why Lange missed a trick by failing to sign him for Villa on deadline day.

Hopefully, this will not be one that the club looks back on with immense regret in two or three years…