Aston Villa have reportedly had a £9m offer accepted for Lille midfielder Idrissa Gueye, with the player set to hold contract talks in Birmingham ahead of the weekend.
Interest in the Senegalese international is thought to be high, and while the likes of Southampton and West Ham have been linked with the 25-year old it seemed Marseille were the front runners.
Gueye is thought to favour a move to the Premier League though, with Villa now stealing a march on their competitors.
A WhoScored rating of 7.41 in the league was the best of all Lille players to make at least 15 appearances and enough to rank 16th overall in France's top-flight.
The tough tackling midfielder has been given more freedom in recent seasons and would bolster a Villa side that have lost Tom Cleverley to Everton and are still fighting to keep hold of captain Fabian Delph.
