Aston Villa boss Dean Smith admits they need to find more creativity in the summer market.

Norwich City playmaker Emi Buendia and Burnley winger Dwight McNeil are among targets under consideration, with the primary focus on easing the creative burden placed on Jack Grealish.

“We dropped off massively when Jack came out of the team in terms of our creativity," admits Smith. “We know that is an area we must improve on to help Jack when he is playing, or if he has to miss a game or two.

“We feel we have a good squad in place. Looking back again, we had 13 new signings that first summer heading into the Premier League. That is too many if you want to be successful.

“We had four new permanent signings at the start of this season and Ross Barkley on loan. We thought that would help us progress again. We feel it is again important to go and get quality over quantity this year."