Steven Gerrard wants to give John McGinn licence to roam at Aston Villa

Gerrard is a huge fan of the Scot and views him as a major part of his plan to transform Villa into serious Premier League contenders.

Adding a player who can protect his team’s back four is a priority in the upcoming window and the boss believes it will bring the further benefit of providing McGinn greater freedom.

“I know John likes to be a bit more of a free spirit,” said Gerrard. “It was a priority in the last (January) window to make a No.6 happen but we couldn’t do that, the timing wasn’t right. We have to be patient for the right thing in the long run.

“But with different personnel around John, we’re hoping to give him some more freedom.”

Villa failed with a £25million bid for Brighton’s Yves Bissouma in January and the Mali international is again expected to be high on their list of targets, along with Leeds’ Kalvin Phillips.

Gerrard hailed McGinn his man-of-the-match as Villa ended a five-match winless run by beating Norwich 2-0 on Saturday.

The boss handed a full debut to Tim Iroegbunam with the 18-year-old replacing Douglas Luiz in midfield.

Gerrard said: “In the last two or three weeks he’s out-trained competitors in that position and I need to be true to my word.

“I said to everyone when I came through the door, if you earn the right to an opportunity I will be true to my word and I’ll back you up. I don’t care how old they are.

“There’s no point having tonnes of talent in the academy if I don’t reward them with opportunities if they deserve them.”