Aston Villa are prepared to let Jordan Veretout make a permanent move to St Etienne.
According to a report on talkSPORT the French side have been delighted by the form of their loan midfielder.
Villa paid Nantes £8m for Veretout in the summer of 2015 but loaned him back to St Etienne twelve months later after last season’s disastrous relegation.
The 23-year-old has settled quickly back in Lique 1 and has also impressed in St Etienne’s Europa League run which pairs the French side with Manchester United next week.
Steve Bruce has taken charge of Villa since Veretout went on loan to St Etienne and has little interest in bringing the midfielder back after signing Henri Lansbury, Conor Hourihane and Birkir Bjarnason during the January transfer window.
Villa will be looking to get back most of the £8m that they paid to Nantes for the player 18 months ago with Veretout having to agree a pay cut if he wants to move back to France on a permanent basis.