Aston Villa have made a breakthrough in talks with Burnley and had an £8m plus £500,000 in add-ons bid accepted for goalkeeper Tom Heaton, claims The Daily Telegraph.
The newly promoted Premier League side had a £7m bid rejected by Burnley earlier in the summer but have succeeded with their improved offer.
It was claimed Burnley were holding out for as much as £10m for Heaton but Villa have now agreed a deal in principle for less than that.
Dean Smith has been on the market for a number goalkeeper all summer after Villa failed to nail down a first-choice shot-stopper last season.
Jack Butland was Villa’s first choice target but Smith quickly went off the idea of the England international after Stoke slapped a £20m price tag on his head.
Villa have made 10 signings and spent more than £100m on new players this summer, with at least three more new faces expected through the door before the transfer window shuts next week.
Heaton, who has entered the final 12 months of his Burnley deal and rejected an offer of a new contract, is now due to undergo his Villa medical over the next 48 hours.
A dislocated shoulder ruled Heaton out of the first half of last season but his return to fitness coincided with Burnley’s huge up-turn in form.
In fact, Burnley had a win ratio of 42.1% in the Premier League last season when Heaton started compared to just 15.8% when he did not feature from the off.
