Aston Villa in transfer talks with Jordan Ayew after offering Lorient £9m for the forward

Boss Sherwood has money to spend from the sales of Delph and Benteke and is closing in on 23-year-old who played for Ghana in last year's World Cup

Aston Villa have opened talks with Ghana striker Jordan Ayew, who is due in Birmingham ahead of a £9million deal.

We revealed earlier this week that boss Tim Sherwood had held a transfer summit to discuss spending following the sales of stars Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph to Liverpool and Manchester City.

And the Midlands club have now stepped up their move for Ayew, after offering around £9m to French side Lorient.

The 23-year-old scored 15 goals last season in Ligue 1 and can play a variety of roles across the front line.

Ayew's brother, and fellow forward, Andre has already moved to the Premeir League this summer, joining Swansea from Marseille.