Aston Villa transfer news: How have 16-strong loan crop fared at respective clubs heading into October international break?

Unai Emery and his players have lifted the mood at Aston Villa heading into the October international streak with a four-match winning streak.

Given their well-documented struggles with regards to complying with the Premier League's and UEFA's financial regulations, it has been a welcome boost for the West Midlands outfit.

However, the potential inability to spend freely in future transfer windows means that a certain level of focus will be on the development of fringe squad members and academy prospects.

Whether club officials wish to cash in on certain players or hope that Emery integrates them into the first-team squad, there is hope they can benefit in some way.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how 16 of the players in question are faring at their respective clubs.

Major windfall pending from loan star

Villa negotiated several loan deals with options to buy in the summer, and one of those is on the brink of paying off with Enzo Barrenechea having already played 14 times for Benfica.

As per reports, Villa will recoup in the region of £10m for a permanent transfer if the Argentine midfielder features one more time.

However, there have been no positives from Kosta Nedeljkovic joining RB Leipzig and Leon Bailey moving to Roma. The former has played just 11 minutes across two appearances, while the latter is yet to make an appearance for the Italian giants due to injury.

Goalkeeper Oliwier Zych has also failed to feature for Polish side Rakow Czestochowa, and Yasin Ozcan has not fared much better at Anderlecht.

The young Turkish defender did not impress across two Conference League qualifying round appearances and has since been demoted to the second team, where he has made just two starts.

Regular game time for Championship trio

Villa had big hopes for Louie Barry when selecting Sheffield United as the club for his step up to the Championship, but the versatile attacker has failed to contribute in five starts and two substitute outings.

On a more positive note, Samuel Iling-Junior has shown his potential at West Bromwich Albion, scoring a fine individual goal versus Leicester City and making a total of two starts and two substitute appearances.

Lewis Dobbin has also emerged as a key man at Preston North End, already chipping in with one strike and two assists in five Championship matches.

Mixed story in League One

The major success story in League One has involved goalkeeper Joe Gauci, who has kept four clean sheets from eight appearances in all competitions for Port Vale.

Included in that is a shutout in a 1-0 win over Birmingham City in the EFL Cup, while the Australian is yet to ship more than two strikes in a single game.

Centre-back Josh Feeney has eight starts and one substitute outing at Huddersfield Town, where Dutch prospect Zepiqueno Redmond has one goal from one start - against Manchester City in the EFL Cup - and two substitute appearances.

Sil Swinkels had made four starts for Exeter City at the start of the season before suffering a knee injury in August.

Future first-team left-back emerging in League Two?

Finley Munroe has been on Emery's radar in the past with brief substitute appearances against Crystal Palace and Olympiacos without featuring again for the first team.

Nevertheless, the left-sided defender is currently impressing at Swindon Town, contributing four assists from 11 starts in a team that sit second in the table.

Villa will also be delighted that winger Tommi O'Reilly has made 11 starts for fifth-placed Crewe Alexandra, chipping in with two goals and one assist.

However, Ferr Smith has only racked up nine minutes across two matches for Barrow.

Up in Scotland, 19-year-old midfielder Ewan Simpson has accumulated 202 minutes across four appearances for Hamilton Academical.