Aston Villa Fan View: Our summer signings assessed

As we are now a third of the way through the season, this is a good time to evaluate the summer transfer window conducted by Steve Bruce and his team. Here are my thoughts on each summer signing:

John Terry – free transfer from Chelsea

An initial shaky start from Terry has long been forgotten as he has stamped his authority and leadership all over the Villa team. Questions were raised in some quarters over Terry’s arrival, but there is no doubt we are a better team with him in it. He is a true leader, and has been fantastic for Villa over the last few months in particular, we will miss him when he leaves. Grade: A+

Glenn Whelan – undisclosed from Stoke City

He has divided opinion, and made a slow start to life at Villa Park. Stoke fans were gutted to see him leave, and with Mile Jedinak being injured all season, Whelan has slowly grown into his role as defensive shielder. He recently won the man of the match award away against Birmingham City, but has been guilty of giving the ball away and putting in rash tackles. Grade: B

Robert Snodgrass – season long loan from West Ham

A shrewd bit of business from Bruce, and he is the kind of player Villa lacked last season. He is still not quite there in terms of fitness, but is already producing goals and assists, he will play a massive part in our promotion push. Grade: B+

Sam Johnstone – season long loan from Manchester United

When he came on loan last season in January, I really didn’t back the move. He had a poor start to his career at Villa Park, and fans jumped on Bruce for making a rookie goalkeeper his number 1. By the end of the season, Johnstone was a points winner for Villa, and his form this season has been brilliant. He is an excellent shot stopper and his positioning is excellent, hopefully Villa can buy him in the summer. Grade: A

Josh Onomah – season long loan from Tottenham Hotspur

There is no doubt that this lad has huge potential, and Spurs clearly rate him highly. He has had some very good games for Villa, and is a good box to box or number 10 player. Good technical player, well built and strong for his age. In some games he has been far too quiet, and needs to find consistency to prove he will be a proper asset for Villa this year. Grade: B-

Ahmed Elmohamady – undisclosed from Hull City

This signing was met with a bit of a shrug from Villa fans, but his early performances at RM swung opinion. Since then, he is now Villa’s first choice right back, where he is steady, and nothing more. Grade: B-

Bruce had a good window, on a shoe string budget. His summer window was far more productive than in his January window, which now looks close to a disaster with the likes of Scott Hogan, James Bree, Henri Lansbury and Birkir Bjarnason barely getting a kick. So with a total outlay of a reported £2.5m in total, Bruce has a much stronger squad, and should get Villa promoted.