Aston Villa to clinch Petrov deal

Petrov did not feature for Celtic at the weekend

Celtic midfielder Stilian Petrov will move to Aston Villa this week for an £8m fee, BBC Scotland understands.

New Villa manager Martin O'Neill was in charge of Petrov during his five-year reign at Celtic Park.

And Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp told BBC Radio Five Live: "I think you will find Petrov has gone to Villa. That's the plan and we wish him all the best."

Pompey have made repeated offers for the Bulgarian but the 27-year-old is to be reunited with his former boss.

O'Neill has made a promising start to his career at Villa Park and has been given the go-ahead to strengthen his squad by new owner Randy Lerner.

Celtic boss Gordon Strachan confirmed talks had taken place with his predecessor more than a week ago about Petrov - but claimed that the player would not be moving to Villa.

However, Petrov was not included in Saturday's squad for the 2-1 win over Hibernian and did not feature at Inverness the week before.

Petrov, who is preparing for Euro 2008 qualifiers against Romania and Slovenia, is contracted to the Scottish champions until 2010 but submitted a transfer request at the end of last season.

The transfer window closes on 31 August and, now that O'Neill has the confirmed financial backing of American tycoon Lerner, Villa have been able to meet Celtic's asking price.

And Celtic appear to have lined up Danish international Thomas Gravesen as a replacement for Petrov.