Aston Villa want to re-sign Fabian Delph – the man branded a “snake” by the club’s fans – on loan until the end of the season.

Steve Bruce, the Villa manager, is keen to reshape his midfield this month and is hoping to sign at least two of his four main targets: Delph, Henri Lansbury, who the club have made a £3 million bid for, Tom Cleverley and Matty James.

It is the name of Delph that will cause most debate among the Villa faithful, following the 27-year-old’s controversial move to Manchester City in the summer of 2015.

Having signed a new contract at Villa at the start of that year, Delph initially turned down an £8 million switch to City and released a statement on the club’s website stating that he would not leave. But the England international had a change of heart and completed a move to City just six days after saying he was staying to captain Villa.

On his first trip back to Villa Park with City in November 2015, Delph was roundly booed by the Villa fans with some supporters even holding up inflatable snakes.