Tommy Elphick, Aaron Tshibola and Jed Steer can return to Aston Villa in the January transfer window as the West Midlands club has the option to recall them from their loans, according to the Birmingham Mail.
The newspaper claims that while Dean Smith could recall this trio of fringe players if he wishes, he cannot terminate Gary Gardner’s deal at Birmingham City.
Elphick is currently on loan at Championship strugglers Hull City, even though Villa have just two natural centre-backs in their first-team, while Jed Steer is on a temporary deal with Charlton and Tshibola is enjoying life north of the border with Steve Clarke’s Kilmarnock.
OPINION
Smith definitely needs to add to his Aston Villa squad in January and he could potentially save the club a lot of money if he looks to recall one or two of these players from loan rather than buying new ones. Villa have numbers in goals but they lack any quality. Steer has done well for Charlton but he is a League One level shot-stopper and should probably be left where he is. Smith is better off buying an upgrade on Orjan Nyland. Tshibola is playing well in Scotland and is best off staying put as well as he is no good for the Villains and could potentially increase his transfer value with Kilmarnock. Elphick is the interesting one. James Chester and Axel Tuanzebe are the only two natural centre-backs at Villa Park right now. Even if Smith buys another centre-back in January, he could do with one more to add strength in depth. Elphick has not been terrible for Hull and could do a solid job as a back-up option.