Aston Villa have moved ahead of Wolves and Leicester City in the hunt for Tammy Abraham, according to Football Insider.

Villa are reportedly willing to meet Chelsea's asking price for the striker and have set aside £40m. It is hoped that the deal will be part of 'another major recruitment drive' at Villa Park.

Intriguingly, the report added that Abraham's proposed arrival could see Ollie Watkins shifted out to the flank. The £75,000-per-week forward is Villa's top scorer this season with 15 goals.

Villa return an option for Abraham as Tuchel leaves him out in the cold

Abraham has, of course, played for Aston Villa before. Chelsea loaned him to the Midlands outfit during the 2018/19 season, and his 25 goals helped fire them to promotion to the Premier League.

The 23-year-old is actually the Blues' top scorer this term, having netted one more goal (12) than £45m signing Timo Werner. However, since Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard at the end of January, Abraham has played just 140 Premier League minutes.

An ankle injury sidelined him for five of those games, but the striker appears to be concerned over his future at Stamford Bridge, with the report noting that Chelsea's attempts to extend his contract have hit an impasse with the Englishman about to enter the final two years of his deal.

Transfer Tavern verdict

Lampard gave Abraham his shot at Chelsea, but now that the 42-year-old has gone, it feels like the striker might follow him out of Stamford Bridge

He would seem an excellent acquisition for whoever signs him, but is Villa the right option? He already has an attachment to the club, but Watkins has done enough to suggest that he can be Dean Smith's long-term number nine.

Perhaps that £40m would, in all honesty, be better spent elsewhere by the Midlands club.

In other news, Lee Hendrie had this to say about the race for Abraham.