Davies in Villa talks

Aston Villa are closing in on West Brom defender Curtis Davies after being given permission by the Baggies to speak with the England under-21 player.

Villa are understood to be on the verge of agreeing a deal within the region of £9million for Davies although Albion insist speculation that everything has already been sorted is wide of the mark.

West Brom manager Tony Mowbray confirmed: "We've given Curtis permission to speak to Aston Villa but the deal is not concluded and is ongoing . We'll wait and see if anything gets concluded. But the bottom line is Curtis hasn't contributed at all for us this season and, if he goes, we'll just get on with what we've been doing."

Davies has been desperate to rejoin a Barclays Premier League club since Albion failed to regain their top-flight status after losing the play-off final to Derby in May.

The former Luton player, who has also interested Tottenham, had a transfer request rejected by West Brom earlier in the summer.

But now he is moving closer to the Hawthorns exit door before the transfer window closes at midnight on Friday.

Davies has not been involved in any of Albion's opening four Coca-Cola Championship matches or the Carling Cup.

He has made it clear he has no future with West Brom although fellow defender Paul Robinson, who is also keen to play in the Premiership again, has started to feature regularly for the club.

If Davies goes, it will generate even more money for the Baggies who on Wednesday sold striker Nathan Ellington to Watford for £4.25million.

Davies looks set to join other high-profile players in midfielder Jason Koumas and striker Diomansy Kamara in departing the club this summer.