Aston Villa's contract decisions are far from finished as questions remain over Mings, Barkley and Onana

Aston Villa have been extremely busy when it comes to contracts over the last few days, with Ian Maatsen and Victor Lindelof agreeing new deals and George Hemmings also reportedly close to committing his future to the club, but I think there are still some interesting decisions to be made when you look at the players whose situations haven't yet been resolved.

Jacob Tanswell has been reporting extensively on Villa's contract plans for The Athletic, and his latest article includes references to Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley, Emi Buendia and Unai Emery, although one name that I find particularly interesting because of its absence is Tyrone Mings.

Starting with Onana, Tanswell has reported that discussions over a new contract are developing, which is interesting given that the Belgian midfielder is currently recovering from a serious knee injury and, personally, I would be surprised if we see him play again this season.

I've been quite critical of Onana at times since he arrived at Villa, and I think people who regularly watch my content would probably identify him and Buendia as the two players I have questioned more than most, but watching Villa over the last few months has actually made me appreciate some of the qualities we have been missing in his absence.

There is always a danger that injured players become better in people's minds when they're not available, and I'm conscious of that, but I do think Onana would have been useful during this period where Villa are trying to establish a new midfield following the significant changes that took place during the summer.

We've brought in João Gomes and Leon Goretzka, while Boubacar Kamara remains an extremely important player for Emery, and I think having Onana available would have given Villa another option with a different physical profile, particularly in matches where we have struggled to impose ourselves in central areas.

It will be interesting to see what happens when he eventually returns because, assuming he signs a new contract, Villa could go into next season with Kamara, Gomes, Goretzka and Onana competing for places in midfield, which brings me to another player whose future remains unresolved.

Tanswell has reported that Ross Barkley is waiting for talks over a new deal to progress and that he would like to remain at Villa, although I'm not completely convinced that the club will necessarily be looking to offer him a lengthy extension.

I wouldn't be surprised if Villa considered another year for Barkley, particularly given his experience and the fact that he has been a useful member of the squad, but I also wonder whether his future might depend on how Emery intends to use him moving forward.

We've seen Barkley operating further forward on a number of occasions recently, and perhaps that is where his future lies within this squad, because when everybody is available, the competition for the deeper midfield positions is going to be considerable.

I think there is an argument for keeping somebody with Barkley's experience around the group, especially when you consider the number of younger players Villa are trying to develop, but equally the club have to make decisions about squad places and wages, and there is only so much room for players who aren't necessarily going to be regular starters.

The situation that interests me most, however, is Mings, whose contract is due to expire at the end of the season and who hasn't been mentioned in Tanswell's recent reporting.

I actually asked Jacob about Mings, and he told me there was nothing to report at this stage, which I found interesting because he has been extremely well informed about Villa's contract negotiations, and you would imagine that if meaningful discussions were taking place, there is a reasonable chance he would be aware of them.

Now, that doesn't mean Mings won't be offered a new contract, and I would assume that he would want to remain at Villa, but we're approaching the stage of the season where some fairly significant decisions will need to be made about the centre-back department.

Mings previously agreed to a reduction in his wages as part of an extended deal, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility of something similar happening again, perhaps with Villa offering another year, although I don't know whether the club have an option to extend his current agreement.

Everybody knows how highly I rate Mings and how much I value what he has contributed to Aston Villa, and while I understand that football clubs have to make difficult decisions as players get older, I would be disappointed if he was the one who ended up making way.

The wider situation at centre-back is worth looking at because Pau Torres is also approaching a point where Villa will need to think seriously about his contract, with my understanding being that he has approximately two years remaining on his current deal.

That means we are already getting towards a stage where Villa will have to make a decision about whether to extend his contract or potentially consider other options, because allowing an important player to move into the final year of his agreement is rarely an ideal position for a club to find itself in.

Lindelof's extension means he is now contracted until the end of next season, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis is probably the centre-back whose longer-term future appears most secure, even though he hasn't necessarily been playing the amount of football that some people might have expected when he arrived.

When you put all of that together, I think there is a strong possibility that Villa will have a different-looking centre-back department within the next nine or ten months, and I wouldn't be surprised if another defender arrived during one of the next two transfer windows.

The question is whether that would involve somebody leaving, and while I hope it isn't Mings, I have a feeling that he could be the player whose future is most uncertain at the moment.

It would be disappointing from my perspective because I still believe he has something to offer Villa, but I also recognise that Emery and the recruitment department will be thinking about the longer-term balance of the squad, particularly with the number of games we are now expected to play across different competitions.

There is also the question of what Villa want from their centre-backs moving forward, because Emery has very specific demands when it comes to playing out from the back, defending large spaces and maintaining the structure of his team, and any new arrival would have to be comfortable with those responsibilities.

We've already seen how difficult it can be to replace established players following the departures during the summer, and I think that experience should encourage Villa to be particularly careful when deciding how quickly to change another important area of the squad.

I like the approach Villa have taken with the recent contract announcements because there is a clear attempt to reward players who have earned greater responsibility and provide some stability after a period of considerable upheaval, but the next decisions might not be quite as straightforward.

Onana's potential extension would suggest that Villa still see him as an important part of their midfield moving forward, while Barkley's situation may come down to whether Emery believes there is still a role for him within an increasingly competitive group of players.

At centre-back, however, I think we are approaching a particularly interesting period because there are questions surrounding several players rather than just one, and the decisions Villa make over the coming months could have a significant influence on what the squad looks like next season.

With the January transfer window approaching, I wouldn't be surprised if we start hearing considerably more about Villa's plans in that position, and while there are plenty of reasons to be encouraged by the contracts that have already been agreed, I think some of the most interesting decisions are still to come.