Aston Villa fans will get in Steve Sidwell a cracking young footballer - a central midfielder who can score at least half-a-dozen goals a season and provide the highly entertaining style of play fans have grown to expect at Villa Park.

That's the view of a source close to the Chelsea player who was last night said to be at the centre of a £5.5 million bid which could see the 26-year-old move from Chelsea to Villa Park and become Martin O'Neill's first big transfer deal of the summer.

Sidwell spent much of last season on the bench at Stamford Bridge but has always been highly rated and Villa fans will remember only too well his silky skills and goal-scoring ability whilst at Reading when he scored twice against them at the Madejski Stadium in a 2-0 defeat in February 2007.

Chelsea were last night said to be mulling over the bid from Villa while Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is also understood to have tabled an offer for the player. Reports that Villa's bid had been accepted were yesterday said to be premature.

And while Sidwell recently reiterated he had no desire to leave Chelsea and wanted to have a go at trying to impress new boss Luiz Fellipe Scolari, it is thought Villa would be his prefered option of the clubs who have shown an interest in him due in no small part to their European ambitions and manager O'Neill's plans for his squad of young England internationals.

The scource said: "Steve is not looking to leave Chelsea but if Chelsea accept the bid either from Villa or Middlesborough then that will signal to him that it is time to move on.

"Villa have put in a bid for him and the fact they are prepared to offer £5.5 milion for a player who Chelsea bought for just £3million from Reading shows to me their intent to have him in their squad for next season.

"Steve is an attacking central midfielder and he will provide you with between one and seven goals a season. He is a better player now than he was when he was in the Championship and a better player now than when he joined Chelsea.

"People say he has not played much but he has made 26 appearances for Chelsea - 13 of those were games in which he started. When you consider Chelsea are one of the top teams in the world - they finished second in the Premier League and they were runners-up in the Champions League - then I think that sums up how far he has come."

The scource, who did not want to be named, said in all Chelsea had received inquiries from nine clubs for Sidwell including the bids from Villa and Boro.

He said: "There have been inquiries from Everton, Blackburn, Manchester City, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham and Fulham.

"If Steve goes to Villa then they will have got themselves a very, very good player. He is articulate, he knows the game and most importantly he knows how to pay football."

Sidwell joined Chelsea from Reading after a four-year spell in the summer of 2007 in a £3 million move. The 26-year-old Englishman started his career as a trainee with Arsenal and while Villa boss O'Neill is in no way resigned to letting skipper and midfielder Gareth Barry go, Sidwell would be a potential replacement.

The player is being advised on his future by agent Eric Walters who was the man behind Juan Pablo Angel's £9 million move to Villa from River Plate in January 2001 - the Colombian striker was the club's record signing at that time.