Aston Villa have spent the last two transfer windows strengthening their attacking threat with Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia, Danny Ings and Philippe Coutinho all joining the side over the last nine months, and now Steven Gerrard will surely have a headache over selecting his strongest forward line.

Amongst these recent signings, Villa already had Ollie Watkins, Bertrand Traore, Mahmoud Trezeguet and Jacob Ramsey who has risen through the academy to become a regular first team starter, meaning Gerrard must make a decision on which players have a future in the side and in rotation, potentially needing to let go of some attackers in the summer to boost funds for other areas of the team that require attention.

One player that Gerrard must axe moving forward is Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan, better known as Trezeguet, with the Egyptian failing to make an impact worthy of a consistent call up to the starting XI, and it’s clear the former Rangers manager recognises this due to his marquee signing of Coutinho last month.

The £47k-per-week dud who was criticised for being “disappointing” by former Villa player Gabby Agbonlahor, has fallen out of favour in the side due to a long term ACL injury, but was given a chance upon recovery after nine months, in which he made a controversial dive in the loss against Brentford last month.

Since joining Aston Villa in 2019, the 27-year-old has made 64 appearances with nine goals and five assists, averaging at a goal involvement every 4.5 games played.

That is not good enough when you compare him to his competitors for the position, with Coutinho also a player who had become out of favour at his club making just 105 appearances for Barcelona after signing in 2018, but maintaining a goal involvement on average every 2.7 games. He already has more goals than the Egyptian winger for the side this season, scoring on his Premier League debut.

Trezeguet was linked with a move away from Villa Park on Deadline Day to Turkish side, Istanbul Basaksehir, but nothing materialised despite Gerrard hinting at an exit saying it would be “challenging” for the attacker to get game time in his side last month. Consequently, he is surely unlikely to play for Villa again before the season is up.

The Liverpudlian will have some important decisions to make on the future of players like Trezeguet in his side, and will surely be planning his next moves for the summer transfer window to further the club’s progression and strengthen ahead of his second season in charge.

In other news: Gerrard must axe Danny Ings