Birmingham City are close to an agreement for Aston Villa midfielder Craig Gardner.

The Birmingham Mail says Blues have improved their bid for the midfielder to £3.5 million and are confident of completing a deal early next week.

Wolves and Stoke City have also expressed interest, but Blues are firm favourites to land the 23-year-old.

Gardner is keen to move across the city to St Andrew's and Villa are willing sellers as Martin O'Neill needs to generate finance in order to make his own transfer window moves.