Former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson could pull the plug on talks with Aston Villa.

The Daily Star says Pearson is the preferred choice of current chairman Steve Hollis and has been waiting while the club was sold.

But impending new owner Tony Xia threw a spanner in the works by approaching former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes – only to get turned down.

Now knowing he was, at best, the new man's third choice Pearson could be ready to tell Villa he's not interested.