West Bromwich Albion will almost certainly be relegated from the Premier League and Aston Villa are looking to snare Craig Dawson away from The Hawthorns.
West Bromwich Albion could swap divisions with their bitter Midlands rivals Aston Villa at the end of this season.
The Baggies are ten points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League while, just a few miles down the road, Villa are in an excellent position to fight for promotion despite successive defeats to QPR and Bolton Wanderers.
But when West Brom do go down, which looks a formality now, Villa could be about to apply a hefty dose of salt to the wounds.
The 27-year-old, who has established himself at right-back in recent seasons but is also adept at centre-half, is one of the players who will be in high demand when relegation is officially confirmed, alongside Ben Foster, Salomon Rondon and Jay Rodriguez.
And if Villa are promoted this season, Dawson would offer a great deal of Premier League appearance alongside the likes of James Chester, John Terry and Ahmed Elmohamady in defence.
But his departure would be a real hit for a West Brom who do not look well placed at all for a drop into the Championship with so many of their key players linked with a move away.
Relegation, and then the prospect of losing Dawson to local rivals Villa, is enough to send shivers down the spine.
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