Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish faces more departures from his squad.

The Sunday Mirror says McLeish has been told to cut his squad's average wage by £10,000-a-week per man.

That means further departures are inevitable in January, for the likes of big-earning fringe players Carlos Cuellar and Habib Beye.

That will offset the club's top deals with Gabriel Agbonlahor, Stiliyan Petrov, Richard Dunne and Stephen Ireland, who all earn above the average.