Aston Villa will look elsewhere after Callum Wilson snub

The 28-year-old is poised to join Newcastle from Bournemouth in a deal worth around £20million, after choosing a move to the north-east over the Midlands.

Villa, who had seen an initial £15m offer rejected by the Cherries, made a larger bid of around £21m on Saturday.

But it was later withdrawn when Wilson intimated his preferred destination, leaving Villa boss Dean Smith to look elsewhere.

Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard is a player admired by Smith but the Scottish club have no desire to sell and Villa are yet to make an approach. Wilson’s Bournemouth team-mate Josh King is another possible target.

Smith is eager to bring in a central striker, preferably with Premier League experience, before Villa open their top flight campaign at home to Sheffield United on September 20.

Talks with Brentford over a deal for Ollie Watkins have, meanwhile, been made more complicated by the interest of Tottenham in the 24-year-old forward.

Villa have been in pole position for Watkins’ signature since the Bees missed out on promotion to the Premier League but now face a battle to land one of their primary targets.

Smith would also like to bring in another goalkeeper, though reports Villa have enquired about Spurs shot-stopper Paulo Gazzaniga are believed to be wide of the mark.

Villa continued their preparations for the new season with a 3-2 friendly win at Arsenal on Saturday.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice for the Gunners but a Villa team missing several international players were victorious thanks to a Douglas Luiz strike and Jacob Ramsey’s double.