Southampton Close On Aston Villa Star With Fee Clear | OneFootball

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Aston Villa forward Lewis Dobbin is set to go through a medical before he joins Southampton later today on a permanent deal, according to journalist Adam Blackmore.

The Stoke-born attacking talent grew up in Everton’s youth academy and stayed at the Merseyside club for ten long years.

He was a top performer at Everton’s youth sides, but played only 20 senior games for the Toffees before he left them to join Aston Villa.

The Birmingham club saw potential in him and paid around £10m two summers ago to wrap a four-year deal for the versatile forward.

However, the former England youth international made no senior appearances for the Villans, spending a couple of seasons in the Championship with Norwich City and Preston North End.

Dobbin impressed at the Lilywhites last term, and the club’s boss, Paul Heckingbottom, hailed him as an ‘explosive’ forward.

The 23-year-old forward contributed to 19 goals directly across all competitions for Preston in 41 games, which earned some eyeballs.

However, breaking into Unai Emery’s first team is not realistic and now he is set for a permanent move away from the club.

Southampton, who failed to secure promotion last term after they were punished for spying on Middlesbrough, are set to sign the versatile forward.

Dobbin, 23, is now set to move to the Saints after he completes his medical tests later today.

And it has been suggested that Aston Villa are set to secure a fee of around £8m to £9m for the ex-England youth international.

Back in March, Dobbin admitted that he wanted to play for the Villans, but he also backed himself to secure a good move if he were to leave, and that is on its way to happening.

Southampton are set to make another push for promotion to the Premier League in the upcoming campaign and Dobbin’s versatility could become a lethal weapon for Tonda Eckert.

All eyes will be on the Championship side to see when they announce the 23-year-old’s permanent arrival from the Europa League winners.