Aston Villa 'to sign' Blackburn striker Rudy Gestede after fee agreed

The forward has been linked with a move to Villa Park and the deal is now on the verge of being completed.

The 26-year-old scored 22 goals for Rovers last season as they finished ninth in the Sky Bet Championship and has netted 34 times in 65 games for the club.

Crystal Palace were interested in the Gestede in January and he has been continuously linked with a move away from Ewood Park this summer.

Watford, Norwich and West Brom had been linked to the Benin international, who has been at Blackburn since signing permanently from Cardiff, after a loan spell, in 2014, but Villa look set to get their man.

Villa boss Tim Sherwood is searching for more firepower after the £32.5million sale of Christian Benteke to Liverpool.

He is closing in on a loan deal for Emmanuel Adebayor, who he managed at Tottenham, with the deal expected to be completed soon.

Adebayor was given a guided tour of Villa's Bodymoor Heath training ground on Tuesday while talks continued on Wednesday.

Nantes midfielder Jordan Veretout could also be a Villa player by the end of the week with the club holding talks with the 22-year-old.

Sherwood has already signed seven players this summer and is prepared to let several squad members go, with left-back Aly Cissokho told he can leave.

Aston Villa are certainly not messing about in this transfer window, having made seven signings before the end of June. The loss of Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke will certainly hurt the Birmingham-based club, but manager Tim Sherwood is doing all he can to ensure they start the season in the best possible shape. Gestede's tally for Blackburn last season was certainly impressive, though his goal-scoring record in recent years does not inspire confidence, and at 26 it seems a big ask to fill Benteke's boots.