Aston Villa are in talks for Shrewsbury winger Chris Humphrey.

The Sunday Mercury says Villa manager Martin O'Neill, who has had Humphrey, 21, scouted, wants to buy him and loan him back to Town, who will pocket £50,000 plus a percentage of any future transfer fee.

A source said: "Villa have scouted Humphrey in his last three games. He's a Martin O'Neill player - English, young and very quick.

"They know that the compensation figure when his contract expires at the end of the season would not be too high, so they are talking about buying him now rather the facing competition in the summer."