Stiliyan Petrov hails Villa target Aiden McGeady

Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov reckons his one-time club-mate Aiden McGeady would be a perfect start to Martin O'Neill's summer spending - after the club's transfer kitty was given a record-breaking boost yesterday.

Villa confirmed their new three-year deal with shirt sponsors FxPro would be worth more than the previous highest commercial deal of £10m with Nike.

The club took the wraps off the new kit designs with an outdoor catwalk show in Centenary Square, Birmingham, yesterday where chief executive Paul Faulkner declared: "This is the biggest deal we have ever done."

And Villa fans are hoping it will bolster manager Martin O'Neill's transfer kitty at a time when speculation linking McGeady, the 24-year-old Parkhead winger, is growing.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon has admitted that McGeady is likely to leave this summer and Petrov, who played with the young star, said: "He's a very good player and I think he's developed a lot in the last couple of seasons. His body strength is even stronger so he's getting better.

"He's a player that a lot of big teams are looking at at the moment because you don't see many to take teams on. He's the type of player where if you leave him one on one or two on two he can always think of something."

The Republic of Ireland international is believed to be keen to test himself in a higher league and has also been tracked by Birmingham and Spartak Moscow. A reunion with O'Neill is seen as the most likely as he handed McGeady his debut in 2004 and is said to be ready to offer England World Cup striker Emile Heskey in part-exchange.

Villa are being linked to AC Milan's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, whose club now claim is bound for the Premier League, while fresh speculation pointed to £8m-rated Dinamo Zagreb striker Mario Mandzukic after scouts watched him in action during a Champions League qualifier this week.