Source: Daily_Mail
James Collins poised for £5m switch from West Ham to Aston Villa
Aston Villa will have to wait until tomorrow to formally complete the signing of Manchester City skipper Richard Dunne on a four-year contract in a £6 million deal.
The Premier League have asked for more time to ratify the deal even though Villa began submitting the relevant documents before 4pm today - an hour before the transfer window formally closed.
Villa remain confident Dunne will become their player after a nine season spell at City after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.
Richard Dunne
James Collins
Dunne deals: Aston Villa have bagged Richard Dunne (L) and James Collins (R)
And the Football Association are satisfied with the paperwork presented by Villa. But Villa formally need the approval of the Premier League before they can announce Dunne's capture.
Villa had earlier in the day signed West Ham defender James Collins for around £5 million.
Dunne's days at Eastlands appeared to be numbered after the arrival of Kolo Toure from Arsenal and then Joleon Lescott from Everton.
But his arrival - along with Collins - at Villa Park will provide Martin O'Neill with the kind of experienced centre-back he has been looking for since the retirement of Martin Laursen at the end of last season with a knee injury.
O'Neill also allowed Zat Knight to move to Bolton and started the current campaign with only two experienced centre-backs in Curtis Davies and Carlos Cuellar.
Villa agreed a fee last week with City for Dunne but the deal dragged on past the weekend because the player wanted to sort out financial issues relating to the remaining three years of his contract.
Dunne would have been entitled to a testimonial next summer when he would have completed a decade of service at City. Now the 29-year-old looks set to make his Villa debut in the Second City derby with Birmingham at St Andrews on September 13.
