Gerard Houllier will get the full backing of the Villa hierarchy in the forthcoming transfer window as he closes in on a deal for French Under-19 captain Gueida Fofana.

The manager has the full support of owner Randy Lerner and chief executive Paul Faulkner and will try to freshen up Villa’s squad during January and breathe new life into a struggling season.

Villa are said to be in advanced negotiations to bring in highly-rated youngster Fofana from Le Havre for a fee in the region of £800,000.

The 19-year-old midfielder, who has been compared with Patrick Vieira, is out of contract with the Ligue 2 side in the summer and has attracted the interest of several Premier League clubs.

Houllier will also review the futures of Villa pair Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland over the next week with both players axed from first-team plans in recent weeks.

Ireland’s reluctance to move to area has been a particular sticking point for Houllier and he is open to the possibility of a loan deal as well as a permanent transfer for the former Manchester City midfielder.

Dunne’s future is less clear and with Villa’s defensive frailties all too apparent recently, he may well be forced to bury his differences with the 31-year-old Irish centre-back.

Meanwhile, Houllier has vowed to plug the holes in Villa’s leaky defence ahead of their trip to Chelsea and avoid a repeat of last season’s 7-1 mauling at Stamford Bridge.

Villa have conceded six goals during the festive period and Houllier is determined to eradicate mistakes made in the defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. They travel to London on January 2 looking to exorcise the demons of last season’s thrashing at the hands of the Premier League title holders.

“We have to be aware that to sort this out we need to work harder as a team to defend and protect the ball,” said Houllier. “If you don’t do that you are always exposed to conceding goals and that will cost you games.

“I think we have to be aware that as a team we need to put in more effort to defend.  We have improved in terms of passing and movement.”