Thursday 20 December 2018 16:05, UK
Aston Villa are in talks to sign Croatia international goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic, according to Sky sources.
Sky Sports News understands Villa are hopeful of agreeing personal terms with the 28-year-old ahead of a prospective January move.
The fee is understood to be in the region of £7m.
Kalinic - currently of Belgian side Gent - has been a long-term target for the Sky Bet Championship side.
Villa were close to signing Kalinic last season, but a failure to secure promotion to the Premier League ended their hopes of concluding the deal.
Villa also tried to sign him in 2016 but failed to secure a work permit.
Kalinic, who started his career at Hajduk Split, has been capped 14 times by Croatia and was part of the squad that reached the 2018 World Cup final in Russia.
He also featured for Croatia in the 2-1 Nations League defeat to England at Wembley in November.
Villa currently sit eighth in the Championship, two points off the play-off positions, despite having conceded 34 goals so far this season - the sixth most in the Championship.
Norway international goalkeeper Orjan Nyland has featured most for Villa this season since joining from FC Ingolstadt in the summer, with Mark Bunn and André Moreira in reserve.
