With the spotlight on Darren Bent’s record-breaking transfer, the arrival of Jean Makoun at Villa has largely faded into the background.

It is, of course, natural that a £24million signing will command the attention of the fans and fill more column inches – and that was before the fall out with Sunderland manager Steve Bruce which followed.

But manager Gerard Houllier is hoping the Cameroon international makes just as big an impact for the claret and blues, following his £6million move from French club Lyon.

The red tape which prevented the 27-year-old midfielder from playing has now been lifted and he has been training with his new team-mates for the first time.

While it is tempting to stick with the same starting line-up that gave Villa a 1-0 win over Manchester City against Wigan tonight, Houllier is likely to favour a slightly more pragmatic approach.

That could mean a debut for Makoun, who is already on the road to becoming a cult hero with the Villa fans because of his quirky fashion sense.

But the Frenchman admitted he would have no hesitation in throwing him into the action, as Villa look to string two Premier League wins together for the first time this season.

He said: “Jean looked fresh. He looked all right and he had trained with the team of Lyon right until the end so there would be no problem.

“He’s a very easy going type of person – very nice. He’s always happy, never moody, he’s not a moaning and whinging player. He’s got experience obviously and his touch is good.

“He’s got lots of energy he can run. He can play both, either as a sitter if you play three or he can play one of the two in the centre if you play like that.

“When he was playing at Lille and I was at Lyon I wanted to buy him because he was a very good sitter in front of the defence.

“Also I was surprised. I thought he had no English at all, but he can communicate, probably because he is an international he has had to communicate.

“His French is all right too!”

The transfer of Makoun – a player Lyon signed for £11million a few seasons back – was a coup for Villa.

They have snapped up a player who has effectively been persuaded to swap, in the short term at least, Champions League football for a relegation battle.

But Houllier revealed that the player joined the club because of a desire to test himself in week-in, week-out in England’s top-flight.

He said:”That is why he came here. He did not come for the money I can tell you that – he came here just because he wanted to play in the Premier League.

“For the money it is an OK deal for us. Lyon had promised him that they would let him go because he had 18 months on his contract.

“But when they put him back into the team they had a run of 13 games without being beaten, they also moved from the 18th place into the fourth place and they also qualified for the Champions League.”

Wigan have struggled at home this season and conceded more goals on their own patch than any other team in the Premier League, so Villa fans will feel optimistic about getting something from the game.

But Houllier has warned his Villa players to expect a backlash from the Latics’ 3-0 defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend.

He said: “They can be extremely good but they can also be disappointing. I think they are a bit wounded and we have to be aware of the wounded animal.

“A win at Wigan would put us practically three points away from the seventh place.

“That says everything about how compact it is.”

By Timothy Abraham