Villa eyeing up Wolves target

The Molineux club had hoped to make the 26-year-old Red Star Belgrade player their first signing of a summer of vital recruitment for manager Mick McCarthy.

But the decision of the Serbian international's agent to break cover on the £2.6m bid from Wolves for his client has achieved precisely what chief executive Jez Moxey feared – and alerted rival clubs to the player.

Already attracting interested from Germany and Turkey, Milijas has now come on to the radar of Villa manager Martin O'Neill who is expected in Serbia today to watch the holding midfielder with an eye for a goal play against Austria.

There are also claims that fellow promoted club Birmingham City are on the trail as well but it is Villa's interest which will threaten Wolves' ambitions most.

It will be a significant blow for Wolves if they lose Milijas from their summer prospectus having worked to keep their intentions "under the radar" for several weeks.

Significantly, the reports of this fresh interest in the player stem from Serbian broadcaster B92, the media outlet which had earlier this week publicised agent Zoran Stojadinovic's claims that the move to Molineux was now "very close."

However, Wolves are still the only club to have bid for Milijas and hopes of signing the eight-times capped player after the World Cup qualifiers are far from over.

Bundesliga outfits Schalke and Werder Bremen as well as Primera Division side Racing Santander are also rumoured to be following Milijas.

Wolves fans are waiting patiently for their club to begin adding new players.

Wolves have been linked with targets from all levels of the game – Millwall's 24-year-old winger David Martin, former Molineux loanee now available at Manchester United Darron Gibson and Bolton defender Danny Shittu are just three figures mentioned in the last 24 hours.