Having appointed Unai Emery as a replacement for Steven Gerrard at the back end of 2022, the Spaniard was always going to be provided with the leeway to make changes to his Aston Villa squad in January.
The Spaniard opted to keep signings down to just two, bringing in left-back Alex Moreno and forward Jhon Duran as replacements for Ludwig Augustinsson and Danny Ings.
However, there were still opportunities for Villa to reduce their wage bill and find temporary homes for several of their highly-rated academy graduates.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how the players who were loaned out at the turn of the year are faring at their temporary homes.
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After seeing his first-team game time continue to be limited under Gerrard and Emery, England Under-21 international Cameron Archer has flourished on loan at Middlesbrough.
As many as six goals and three assists have come in 12 Championship appearances, Archer contributing a double and an assist during the 4-0 win over Preston North End at the weekend.
Fellow Villa academy graduate Aaron Ramsey joined Archer at the Riverside Stadium after his loan period at Norwich City was brought to an end.
Since then, the midfielder has scored three times in seven appearances, taking his tally in the Championship during 2022-23 to six strikes and three assists.
Having dropped down the pecking order at Villa, Marvelous Nakamba was allowed to sign for Luton Town in January, the transfer looking to be a coup for the Hatters.
That is exactly how it has proven to be, the Zimbabwe midfielder making 10 appearances - nine of those outings being starts - to help Luton build a seven-point lead in the race for a playoff spot.
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One division further down the EFL, Lamare Bogarde has had the chance to continue his development at League One outfit Bristol Rovers.
The 19-year-old Dutchman has been regarded as a first-choice pick of late, taking his tally to seven starts and two substitute appearances at the Memorial Stadium.
Louie Barry has struggled to build on his initial eye-catching introduction to professional football, yet the young forward has 24 starts to his name this campaign.
Seven of them have been at Salford City since the turn of the year, the versatile attacker contributing one goal and one assist in 549 minutes of League Two football.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Filip Marschall was allowed to move to the National League with Gateshead, where he has been provided with 10 starts in the fifth tier of English football.
Darren Plant
