Johnson lined up for Villa raid

Alex McLeish is reportedly looking to snap up Fulham striker Andrew Johnson on a Bosman free transfer in the summer.

The Villa boss is desperate to bolster his firepower in preparation for next season and it appears that Craven Cottage will be his first port of call given that he has already admitted an interest in signing the Cottagers' current loan forward Pavel Pogrebnyak. However, the Daily Mirror claims that McLeish has set his sights on 31-year-old England international, Johnson, who is out of contract with the Londoners at the end of June and will be available for nothing. Cottagers boss Martin Jol has already revealed that he hopes Johnson, who has eight caps for the Three Lions, will stay put and sign a new contract offer having already notched up 11 goals this season. But with time rapidly running out to get the player tied down, it will give McLeish some hope of luring the former Everton and Crystal Palace forward to the Midlands with a rival offer. Villa owner Randy Lerner is looking to scale back on his spending on transfer fees so Johnson would be the ideal acquisition to add to Australian midfielder Brett Holman, who has already agreed to sign a pre-contract.