According to reports on Tuesday morning, Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is on the verge of launching £11m offer for Tottenham Hotspur striker Jermain Defoe and £9m bid for West Bromwich Albion defender Curtis Davies.

With the transfer market to shut on August 31, Villa’s bids are likely to test the clubs’ resolve as Defoe has reportedly refused to open talks on signing a new deal at White Hart Lane while Davies has wanted out of the Hawthorns all summer but the Baggies are holding out for right price.

Spurs do not want another Sol Campbell on their hands and would like to cash in on Defoe if he does not open talks on a new deal. The 24-year-old England international is reportedly unhappy playing as a back-up to Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov and with record signing Darren Bent arriving this summer, the former West Ham United player has gone even more down the pecking order.

As such, O’Neill feels Defoe is likely to decide on leaving Spurs for more regular football in order to get his international career going.

England U-21 centre-back Davies meanwhile is desperate to play for a Premiership side and Spurs were also tracking the player but the exorbitant cost put them off and they signed Younes Kaboul.

But Villa are maintaining their interest in Davies and feel £9m is enough to prise him from the Baggies as earlier their cash-plus-player deal failed to take off as defender Gary Cahill was not in favour of the move to opposite end.