Steve Bruce battling for his top Aston Villa January targets
Aston Villa are facing increasing competition for their top midfield targets during the January transfer window.
Boss Steve Bruce is eager to bolster his options in the middle of the park and the club lodged a bid of around £3million for Nottingham Forest skipper Henri Lansbury earlier in the month.
But Norwich City have now been linked with a move for the 26-year-old, while Premier League Burnley are thought to be leading the race for Canaries utility man Robbie Brady, another player in whom Bruce has an interest.
Sheffield Wednesday, meanwhile, are understood to have had a bid of around £1.25million rejected for Conor Hourihane. Villa were last week understood to be readying a bid for the 25-year-old, who has netted six goals this season.
A deal for Lansbury has been held up by the protracted takeover negotiations at Forest and club officials are unsure what the collapse of John Jay Moores' buy-out would mean for any deal.
Villa have lost their last two league games to sit 10 points outside the play-offs and Bruce is eager for new recruits to breathe fresh energy into a campaign which has begun to falter.
