Aston Villa are about to step up their chase to sign Reading midfielder John Swift, the Birmingham Mail reports.
Villa are prepared to outbid Sheffield United to land Swift, with an offer for around £8 million being prepared.
Sheffield United have already made a bid, but that was quickly knocked back by Reading, who wanted more money for their star man.
Villa could well now do that by making a bigger offer for the 25-year-old than the Blades have been prepared to do so far.
Swift has been tipped as a potential replacement for Jack Grealish before, but it is likely that Villa would like to have them both, in an ideal world.
Swift, who described as a ‘great player’ by Marcelo Bielsa earlier this year in Leeds Live, has proven to be one of the Championship’s very best playmakers, and has a vast amount of quality with the ball at his feet.
For around £8 million he could prove an excellent value for money addition to Villa’s squad, as Dean Smith’s side look to strengthen.
Villa went shopping around the world last summer, but seem to have a much more domestic focused transfer plan this time around, and Swift could be their first addition of many from the Championship in the coming weeks.
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