Aston Villa facing transfer fight with Saint Etienne for £9m Egyptian star Mahmoud Trezeguet

ASTON VILLA will have to fight off a dramatic 11th hour bid from French club Saint Etienne for Egyptian winger Mahmoud Trezeguet.

Villa CEO Christian Purslow and the club’s sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch have sanctioned a £9m deal with the 24-year-old’s Turkish club Kasimpasa for Mo Salah’s international team-mate.

He is set to fly to the UK over the weekend to complete a medical.

However reports in France say Saint Etienne hope to hijack the move, using some of the proceeds of William Saliba’s proposed £27m transfer to Arsenal fund a late raid.

Trezeguet beat Salah to be voted the best player in Egypt’s AFCON Group A.

The Villa target also completed the most dribbles in Turkish football last season with 112 successful attempts to go past opponents.

Manager Dean Smith wants to add that ability to Villa’s armoury in the Premier League.

But he may have to act fast to avoid getting into a tug-of-war with their French rivals.

Smith hopes to bring in another creative wide-man to operate on the opposite flank to Jota, who he snapped up for £4million from neighbours Birmingham City last month.

Trezeguet picked up the nickname, aged nine, because his coach thought the high-scoring youngster bore a striking resemblance to the former Monaco and Juventus scoring legend David, who struck gold at the 1998 World Cup with France.

Nowadays Mahmoud is showcasing his class as a winger at Kasimpasa.

He scored nine goals in 29 league games last season.