Villa in Mali ace link

Aston Villa have been linked with Rennes midfielder Tongo Doumbia after he admitted to being in talks over a move to England.

Villa are one of several Premier League sides thought to be interested in the Mali international, who joined Rennes from Chateauroux in 2009 and still has two years remaining on his contract with the French Ligue 1 outfit. Doumbia has now confirmed that his agent is in talks about a move to England and he is hopeful that a move can go through before the new season gets underway next month. He told Le 10 Sport: "My agent is taking care of that - it is nice but a transfer requires all parties agreeing to it and now we are talking with Rennes. "And this is not that I don't want to play with Rennes but this is the Premier League, it is a league that really attracts me. I think I have a playing style suited to the Premier League. "I am due to resume training on Monday, but I hope everything will be fixed shortly." Whether Villa are interested remains to be seen given that midfield duo Brett Holman and Karim El Ahmadi have already joined the squad this summer.