Whatever your view on Gareth Barry, it cannot be denied that his replacement in the centre of Villa's midfield will have to be some player to fill the current void.

But, with Randy Lerner admitting that money doesn't always guarantee success, it looks increasingly likely that Martin O'Neill will have to pick up a bargain to plug the gaping hole which was left by his former skipper.

This surely means that the Northern Irishman will have to do something that has been distinctly foreign to him during his time at Villa - with the emphasis on foreign.

O'Neill must surely now delve into the European or even global transfer market.

The fact is that English players have hugely inflated price tags. Villa found that out to their cost when bringing in James Milner for £12m from Newcastle last summer.

They were also forced to pay a substantial amount for Ashley Young, who signed from Watford in January 2007. The total fee for the winger was just under the £10m mark.

Whether you think that was value for money or not - and it looks like in the case of Young it was - the fact remains that those price tags were massively over-inflated.

Take Tottenham striker Darren Bent or his teammate David Bentley. It cost Spurs in the region of £33m to sign the pair. Are they really worth anywhere near that? Probably not.

Then have a look at the red half of North London, at Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. The French genius has continually unearthed gems from abroad during his time in England.

History

Wenger's captain and influential playmaker Cesc Fabregas was pinched from Barcelona's youth setup in 2003 and the Spaniard is now one of the top midfielders in the Premier League.

Looking back, Wenger signed his countryman and then winger Thierry Henry from Juventus in 1999 for around £10m and turned him into possibly the greatest striker in the club's illustrious history.

O'Neill now needs to take a leaf out of Wenger's book if he is to beat the Gunners boss to fourth next season.

He needs to use his scouts to full effect and take some risks.

Fans will accept that new players from foreign climbs take time to adapt to a new country and a new league but Villa have a settled squad who can help a fresh member to fit into the fold.

A star signing from abroad would do nicely. Supporters won't expect Lionel Messi to rock up at Villa Park any time soon but players like Steven Defour of Standard Liege and Antonio Apono of Malaga are realistic targets and could be obtained on the cheap.

Surely this is better than signing English players like Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas, who have also been linked with the club in recent weeks.

Scouts

There is no doubt that those two Englishmen are good squad players but they are no more than Premier League cast-offs.

Lerner and O'Neill must be fresh and innovative. The Villa boss spent in his comfort zone last summer as he bought players who he had experience of at first hand .

And while there are many benefits to employing this tactic - you are never going to break the top four by simply buying English based players unless of course you can prize Steven Gerrard or indeed John Terry away from their respective clubs.

Villa must go further afield. At times you wonder whether the club actually has any scouts. 

Thankfully it was recently announced that experienced talent spotter David Wilson has been appointed to oversee the Scandinavian countries and O'Neill will be reliant on him to discover the next Martin Laursen.

The acquisition of the Danish defender, in fact, proves the point of this article. Villa's former skipper, who was forced to retire at the end of last season cost just £3.5m. What a bargain he turned out to be.

The commanding centre-back was signed from AC Milan and he is a good example of someone who was brought in for a relatively small fee and really improved the team.

There are plenty more where he came from and it is now up to O'Neill to take a risk and find a gem who can propel Villa into the top four next season.

Good luck Martin!