Source: Daily_Mail
Villa home in on Stewart Downing after winger's club Boro accept £12m fee
Stewart Downing has started talks with Aston Villa after Middlesbrough accepted a £12million offer for the England winger.
Villa boss Martin O'Neill has stepped in to sign Downing despite the midfielder still recovering from a broken foot which will rule him out until at least October.
O'Neill's move, which comes after weeks of negotiations with Boro, blows Downing's long-term admirers Liverpool and Tottenham out of the race to snap up one of the main commodities in Gareth Southgate's relegated squad.
The Boro boss turned down Downing's transfer request in January, which was intended to kick start a move to White Hart Lane.
But he was resigned to losing Downing the moment Middlesbrough dropped out of the Barclays Premier League and he has already snapped up Ireland B international Mark Yeates from Colchester United as a long-term replacement.
Southgate will also fight to hold on to England Under-21 winger Adam Johnson, who is being courted by Chelsea and whose chances at theRiverside have been limited by Downing's presence since he broke intothe first team from the club's Academy.
Downing is one of the leading lights from Dave Parnaby's production line having won 22 England caps since he broke into the Boro first team under Steve McClaren eight years ago.
The Pallister Park lad went on to play more than 150 games for his home-town club, but he enjoyed a topsy-turvy relationship with Boro fans who, like Southgate, anticipated they would eventually lose the winger, who turns 25 this month.
Southgate is expecting further talks with O'Neill surrounding the future of Tuncay Sanli. The Turkey captain, who is valued at £10million, is back on Teesside but Villa, Everton, Sunderland and Fenerbahce are all interested in the striker who joined Boro on a free transfer two years ago.
And the Middlesbrough manager does not expect him to be at the Riverside for the start of the season. `He is a top half Premier League player,' he said last week.
