Stewart Downing is expected to have a medical at Aston Villa today after the club agreed a fee with Middlesbrough that could rise to £12million.

The England left winger, who is recovering from foot surgery, arrived at Bodymoor Heath, Villa's training complex, on crutches to discuss personal terms last night. Downing expects to be running soon and have a pin taken out of his right foot in September.

Villa are waiting to see if Portsmouth will accept their £2.5million bid for Sylvain Distin, the defender.

Decent bets

Tottenham Hotspur need to revise their offer and payment schedule to Real Madrid for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar after the forward had a change of heart. The Holland international wanted to move to a team in the Champions League, but is not keen on Stuttgart, who had a £17million offer accepted. The North London club have offered a higher salary to Huntelaar, who moved from Ajax for £19million in January.

Hull City have agreed a £5million fee with Fulham for Bobby Zamora, the striker, which could lead to Peter Crouch moving from Portsmouth to Craven Cottage. Sunderland had a £12million offer accepted for Crouch, but the England forward does not want to move to the North East.

Bernard Mendy has claimed that he could leave Hull this summer. The French defender made 33 appearances last season after joining on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain. “When I came here I told the club officials the project was interesting but I wanted to be free to go if there was an opportunity to play for a big club,” he said.

Everton are confident of signing Kyle Naughton after they matched Tottenham's £5million offer for the Sheffield United right back.

Liverpool have expressed interest in Ritchie Kitoko, the 21-year-old Belgian midfield player at Albacete.

Blackburn Rovers have been offered Guirane N'Daw, the Nantes and Senegal midfield player.

Stoke City are in talks with Sunderland about signing Dean Whitehead, the midfield player.

Birmingham City are expected to sign Barry Ferguson after offering Rangers about £1.3million for the midfield player, who has one year left on his contract. Bolton Wanderers are reported to be close to a deal worth in excess of £2million for Lee Chung Yong, the South Korea and Seoul winger, according to his agent.

Dead certs

Richard Eckersley has signed a four-year contract with Burnley after the defender moved from Manchester United. Jason Scotland has obtained a work permit and the forward should move to Wigan Athletic from Swansea City for a basic £1.5million.