After sending Rudy Gestede to Middlesbrough for a reported £6m fee, Aston Villa want to bring a striker of their own from the Teeside club.
According to the Birmingham Mail, Villa have made an official bid to sign out-of-favour ‘Boro striker Jordan Rhodes this month.
Rhodes has been one of Bruce’s top targets all month as he looks to bolster his attacking options ahead of the second half of the season where he hopes his Villa side can battle their way back into the play-off mix.
Bruce has been a long-time admirer of the Scotland international forward, making a move to sign him whilst he was the manager of Hull back in 2013 before making a second approach a year later.
It’s understood that Bruce was hoping to sign Rhodes on an initial loan deal but he’s gone in with a permanent transfer offer which he hopes would be well received by Aitor Karanka.
Middlesbrough shelled out close to £10m to sign him from Blackburn and are looking to recoup as much of that fee as possible to offset the imminent arrival of Patrick Bamford from Chelsea.
Villa are in pole position to sign him this month as his future on Teeside looks bleak.
