There is something about this transfer window that is strangely reminiscent to last year.

That is because Villa have again failed to add that missing link, which was probably required if the club is to achieve a top four finish at the end of the season.

Mid-way through the last campaign, the Claret and Blue were flying high - and then they signed Emile Heskey.

The acquisition of Heskey himself was not the problem, though, it was the lack of activity around him that proved fatal to Villa's Champions League hopes.

Last year Villa needed a top-notch striker; a goalscorer of the highest pedigree, but they didn't splash the cash to get him, whoever 'he' may have been.

Instead, Martin O'Neill just added Heskey, a player much-maligned for his lack of nouse in front of goal.

Undoubtedly, the big England man would provide a good all-round contribution, but he needed a complimentary hitman alongside him.

In Gabby Agbonlahor, Villa had that player but the scoring burden proved to be a massive weight on the shoulders of one so young.

Agbonlahor could not sustain his striking early-season form and Villa fell away.

This year, it looks like the same may happen again.

Hotshot

Okay, so O'Neill has a far stronger squad this time round and his defence is a million more times assured than it was going into the 2009 run-in.

But, the Villa side still lacks an instinctive hotshot; a Fernando Torres, Jermain Defoe or Carlos Tevez.

Now what will strike you like a hammer blow to the head when reading that talented trio of names, will be that they all strut their stuff for a top four challenger.

Torres of Liverpool, Defoe of Spurs and Tevez of Manchester City, they are all in competition with the Claret and Blue. Each one has the goalscoring instinct that Villa so badly crave.

But it is not all bleak for the Villans, of course it's not. O'Neill's men are in the Carling Cup final - their first showpiece for ten years.

But, if Randy Lerner and his manager wanted to hit the top four, they needed to make just one more big investment. They didn't need the customary two players that gaffers so often asked for, just one big buy would have been sufficient.

Villa have the makings of a top team. They have everything but that lethal kingpin, the 20 goal-a-season man.

Agbonlahor is ace but will it all prove too much for him to handle when it comes to the crunch?

When you see that Wayne Rooney has already hit 20 goals his season, you begin to realise just why the top teams are the top teams.

If Villa are to break into the English pantheon then Agbonlahor will have to cope with the pressure and follow in Rooney's footsteps.

However, it is pressure which is perhaps unnecessary.