The Villans pulled off a coup when they convinced the midfielder to leave Chelsea and move to the Midlands on a loan deal until the end of the season.

 

Barkley has already made an impact on the pitch for Aston Villa and scored a last-minute winner against Leicester City last weekend.

 

 

Smith feels the midfielder’s arrival has been a big boost for everyone at the club as Aston Villa have managed to convince a player of Champions League calibre to move to Villa Park in the summer.

 

The Aston Villa boss said in a press conference: “He’s made a big impact.

 

 

“The fact that we’ve gone out and managed to entice that calibre of player into the squad has certainly gone down well in the dressing room and with our staff and fans as well.

 

“He’s a top player, who has been in and amongst the Champions League for the last two or three years of his career.

 

“He’s been a regular starter for England too.”

 

 

Barkley is keen to get back into the scheme of things for England ahead of next summer’s European Championship.

 

He was unlikely to get the regular minutes at Chelsea and Smith believes consistent performances at Aston Villa will get the midfielder back into the Three Lions squad.

 

“He’s not played the amount of minutes he’s wanted to [at Chelsea], and we’ve managed to get him to Aston Villa.

 

“His job now is to produce performances for Aston Villa that take the eye of Gareth Southgate and get him back into the England squad.”

 

Barkley has 33 international caps to his name but has not been part of recent England squads.