Aston Villa have agreed a fee with Wigan Athletic over the signing of winger Charles N'Zogbia.
The French international, 25, is now set to discuss personal terms with the Midlands club.Villa said they hoped to complete the deal later this week as they rebuild following the sales of Stewart Downing and Ashley Young.
Neither club has announced the agreed fee, although reports suggest it is in the region of £9.5m.
Villa manager Alex McLeish came close to signing N'Zogbia last summer when in charge at Birmingham City, although the deal collapsed over personal terms.
He also saw a bid rejected for the former Newcastle United man earlier this month.
McLeish has now returned for the Wigan player after the sales of Young and Downing to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively left him short of wingers.
"The deal hasn't been fully done yet, he still has to complete a medical," said McLeish, during an Asia Trophy news conference in Hong Kong. "I believe everything else is just about there.
"I think it's a great addition to the squad. He's an explosive player and he gives us a little bit of quality to replace one or two of the guys that have left the club.
"We try to do as much homework as possible to ensure we can get it done. You can never say it's a 100 % done deal, that's why I remain cautious, but I'm pretty confident.
"You saw his exploits last season, especially towards the end of the campaign when he scored five or six goals which were extremely important for Wigan to stay in the league.
"I felt we needed to replace Downing with similar quality, he's broken into the French national team, I believe we've got a player who can become even better."
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