Aston Villa have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Leicester City striker Leonardo Ulloa. Villa have enquired with Leicester about the striker and are hoping to secure him on loan till the end of the season.
A move will likely depend on whether Foxes boss Claude Puel is able to strengthen his side this month.
The Villains chances of recruiting the Argentina would have been boosted after the Foxes secured the services of Fousseni Diabete from French Ligue 2 side Gazelec Ajaccio for an undisclosed fee.
The Foxes will likely look to offload one of Ulloa of team-mate Islam Slimani and their stance could now be softened.
Villa reportedly see Ulloa as a man that could bolster their attack in the absence of Jonathan Kodjia who could be set to miss the rest of the season through injury.
During his pre-match conference ahead of his sides game against Nottingham Forest, Bruce was asked about Ulloa and Daniem Amartey and said, “I think I would love to give you names, but it would be brutally unfair of me to do it,” he said.
“I know everybody likes to listen to the transfer stuff and this, that and the other. It would be unwise of me to speak about players at other clubs. We are particularly close to one – not particularly those two who you’ve named.
“Until we’ve got them over the line, out of respect for the clubs we’re talking to I can’t really reveal it. I’ve seen lists and lists and lists. We’ll do one or two, that’s what we’ll do. We are getting people back from injury. Of course Kodjia is the big one we’re missing so let’s see what we can do.”