Aston Villa and Birmingham are in talks over a cross-city swap deal involving Curtis Davies and Sebastian Larsson.According to the Press Association, the deal could see Birmingham offer Larsson plus £1.5m to land central defender Davies from their local rivals.
Blues were hoping to sign Davies for £3.5m but Villa boss Gerard Houllier is keen on Larsson, with the winger's contract up at the end of the season.
Earlier this week it appeared Davies was heading to Leicester on loan.
The 25-year-old, who has already had one loan spell with the Foxes this season, tweeted on Monday: "Off to Leicester to re-join Sven's revolution."
Leicester assistant manager Derek Fazackerley told BBC Radio Leicester: "We thought there might be a window of opportunity to bring him back but there are one or two other interested parties.
"At the end of the day it's the player's choice. And if that's the case we continue with what we've got."
Should Villa hang on to Davies?
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The deal could hinge on whether Larsson is prepared to give up the chance to play at Wembley in next month's Carling Cup final, after Birmingham beat West Ham 4-3 on aggregate on Wednesday to set up a meeting with Arsenal.
After a poor first half of the season, in which they dropped into the relegation places, Villa have won two games in a row to move up to 13th in the Premier League.
Houllier has already spent £24m during the January transfer window on Sunderland's Darren Bent and Jean Makoun from Lyon but if a swap deal cannot be agreed with Birmingham, he could sign Larsson for nothing in the summer.
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport