Villa close in on Heskey deal

Aston Villa are optimistic that a deal to sign Wigan striker Emile Heskey will be completed within the next 24 hours.

Sources close to the club are "hopeful" that the England striker will be reunited with Villa manager Martin O'Neill in a deal worth between £3million and £4million.

Heskey initially indicated that he was prepared to stay with the Latics until the end of his current contract in the summer but the lure of playing again under O'Neill - and the possibility of Champions League football next season - appears to be too strong for him to resist.

Heskey first flourished as a teenager under O'Neill at Leicester during the second half of the 1990s and helped them to secure League Cup triumphs in 1997 and 2000.

Heskey eventually made an £11million move to Liverpool shortly after the second of those wins but he has always retained a strong bond with O'Neill.

It has been common knowledge that the Villa manager wanted to sign Heskey and he would provide competition for Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew, who is on his way back to fitness after a back problem.

Heskey's signing would represent O'Neill's first capture of the January transfer window as he looks to sustain a challenge for a top four spot in the Barclay's Premier League.

A source close to Villa said: "The club is hopeful of something being completed for Heskey after the two clubs spoke on Thursday.

"It is common knowledge that Martin has always been a big admirer of the player and Villa are hopeful something could be concluded in the next 24 hours."

Villa media relations representative Steve Tudgay would make no official comment on whether a deal for Heskey was imminent.