Aston Villa have joined a four-club race to sign Barnsley midfielder Josh Scowen, according to a Sun report.
The newspaper claims the 24-year-old has rejected the contract extension he was offered by his club and is therefore available on a free transfer this summer.
Scowen was signed by Barnsley for £240,000 in January 2015 from Wycombe and his club are keen to hold onto him.
However, it is said Scowen wants to join a club with promotion ambitions, alerting Villa, but Fulham, Wolves and Brentford are also interested.
The report claims all four clubs are ready to offer the 24-year-old a £9,000-a-week deal, but Steve Bruce will hope his side’s ambitions will be enough to entice him to Birmingham.
The 56-year-old manager has been told by his club’s board “there will be money available to him”, but it will not be anywhere near the fees the club shelled out in the summer of 2016.
Scowen was a mainstay of the Barnsley midfield this season, making 44 appearances in all competitions, scoring three goals and supplying three assists.
The 5″10 Englishman is most comfortable playing in the centre of the park, but he has also been used on the right by Tykes manager Paul Heckingbottom on occasion this term.
He has played 108 league and cup games in his two-and-a-half year spell at the Yorkshire club.