Aston Villa are in partnership talks with Swedish club GAIS.

The Allsvenskan outfit are seeking an alliance with Villa, having enjoyed a similar relationship with Ipswich Town.

"It was a very rewarding trip," GAIS chairman Roland Blomstrand told GP.

Blomstrand has a relationship with Gerard Nash, who was previously in Ipswich's academy. He is now a coach in Aston Villa's academy.

"If you want to be crass, it is the case that if I had called and said my name is Roland Blomstrand and I am the chairman of Gais, they would have hung up on by every single Premier League club, but now there is a personal relationship and they know that we have taken good care of the Ipswich boys who have been with us.

"That is important. Then now that we were over there, we got to meet people other than Gerard as well, and we got a very good impression of everyone.

"We have said that we will continue to have dialogue and try to make this relationship thrive. From our side, we want to find ways to develop our academy - and at the same time have an exchange with Aston Villa."