Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is poised to make a £6million bid for Manchester City captain Richard Dunne.

Following the arrival of Joleon Lescott at Eastlands, it seems increasingly likely that Mark Hughes will allow Dunne to leave and O'Neill is keen to act quickly.

Villa are in dire need of a quality centre-half after captain Martin Laursen retired at the end of last season and have already been linked with Portsmouth's Sylvain Distin and are believed to be close to a deal for Blackburn's Stephen Warnock.