Villa have upped the ante in their bid to sign Leeds’ prized asset Fabian Delph by offering young starlet Nathan Delfouneso on a season-long loan as part of the deal.

The Claret and Blue have already seen a big-money move for the teen sensation rejected, with the Elland Road club also turning down a bid from a seperate Premiership club, believed to be Everton.

But the Midlands outfit are now thought to have sweetened the deal, by giving Leeds the chance of taking the England under-19 forward on loan for an experience-gleaning season in League One.

The highly-rated teenager notched goals in Uefa Cup defeats to Hamburg and Zilna last term and again in the FA Cup victory over Doncaster.

Delfouneso, who has also represented England at under-17 and under-16 level, was named players’ young player of the year and supporters’ young player of the year last season.

Delph is the £6m-rated attacking midfielder Villa boss Martin O’Neill has been trailing for some time.

He has competition for his signature from Everton and Leeds have now made the offers public.

An official statement from Leeds read: “We can confirm that we have received offers direct from two Premier League clubs for Fabian Delph.

“The offers have been rejected.”