Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert admits he was keen on Southampton star Dusan Tadic.
Tadic joined Saints in the summer from FC Twente.
"We tried to get Tadic here the January before last," Lambert confirmed. "We tried to do something but couldn't do it.
"That's the way it goes because he's a good player.
"We've known about his talents for a while now but we couldn't quite get it done.
"There were loads of factors which just meant it couldn't happen.
"Twente and they were looking for a right few quid so it wasn't to be."
