Aston Villa will be welcoming FC Basel midfielder Birkir Bjarnason to the club tomorrow for a medical ahead of a January transfer, the Birmingham Mail understands.
In his first transfer window as Villa boss, Steve Bruce is eager to put his own stamp on the squad and has identified Bjarnason as a fresh face to bring to Villa Park to help get the club back into the promotion mix.
Bjarnason played every minute for Iceland at Euro 2016 primarily as a left-midfielder but he can operate on the right side of midfield as well as in a central role.
The 28-year-old came through the ranks at Norwegian club Viking Stavander before making a free transfer move to Standard Liege in January 2012. That summer he signed for Serie A club Pescara on a season-long loan in a move which became permanent in July 2013.
After two years in Italy, Bjarnason made a £1.7m move to FC Basel where he been a regular in the Swiss side, playing regular Champions League football.
Bjarnason is expected to follow Barnsley duo James Bree and Conor Hourihane through the doors at Villa Park to become Bruce’s third, fourth and fifth signings of the January transfer window.
