Villa's bid for Kiyotake nipped in the bud

Martin Bader, head honcho of FC Nuremberg has revealed that he has rebuffed a Villa enquiry for stylish Japanese playmaker Hiroshi Kiyotake.

According to the report in Nürnberger Nachrichten, Bader made it clear that Nuremberg have no plans to sell the player, "Such inquiries honour us, but Hiroshi is here to stay."

Any move for Kiyotake would have cost Villa the best part of £8 million, so it would seem that despite signing six new players and securing the cream of the Under 21 squad on new deals, Lambert still has some ammunition in his war chest.