Aston Villa eye shock move for Bristol City defender Adam Webster in £12m deal
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ASTON VILLA are making a shock move for Bristol City’s giant centre-half Adam Webster in a bid to strengthen their Premier League squad.
Villa boss Dean Smith needs two defenders after Axel Tuanzebe returned to Manchester United, while Bournemouth are haggling over a fee for Tyrone Mings.
Smith’s money-men will back him with a bid of around £12million for Webster, who only joined Lee Johnson’s club from Ipswich a year ago.
Villa have been rebuffed so far but their interest is bound to appeal to Webster, who could make a quick move into the top-flight.
Tuanzebe is set to be involved in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pre-season games at United.
Meanwhile, Villa refuse to overpay for Mings after reviving his career in a successful loan spell.
JT ON THE MOVE?
But the Villans could be without Smith's assistant boss John Terry - if Chelsea make their move to make Frank Lampard their new manager.
The Rams' chief could be named Maurizio Sarri's successor as he is heading for Roman Abramovich's yacht in Saint-Tropez for talks with the Blues owner.
And reports claim Terry is a contender to replace Lampard - just weeks after the Villans beat Derby 2-1 in the Championship play-off final.
Ex-England skipper JT, 30, has never hidden his desire to become a manager.
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And he caught the eye in the second-tier this season with the way he helped Villa's on-loan stars shine.
Despite Lampard's reported move, Rams owner Mel Morris publicly insists they still hope to keep him.
Morris said: "We have made it clear to everyone, but most importantly to Frank, that we want him and to retain his services for the long term."