Aston Villa are set to secure their first signing of the summer

Starting their summer off by pillaging their rivals

Aston Villa and Birmingham City are in very different places right now. The Villains secured promotion to the Premier League thanks to a 2-1 play-off final victory over Derby County last weekend, while the Blues finished a rather disappointing 17th in the Championship table after a points deduction late in the season. Dean Smith's side are looking forward to the summer and the Premier League season in August, and are now understandably keen on strengthening their team ahead of the kick off. Watching their bitter rivals in the Premier League will be difficult enough for Birmingham fans, and it could get significantly more difficult after it emerged that Villa will look to make talisman Jota their first signing of the summer. The 27-year-old moved to St. Andrew's from Brentford in 2017 for a fee that was undisclosed but believed to be a club record. Jota was coached by Villa coach Dean Smith during his time at Griffin Park and is reportedly looking to reunite with the former Celta Vigo man. Birmingham are reportedly keen to get Jota's £35,000-per-week wages off their wage bill and as such are said to be willing to let him go to Villa Park for a fee of £4 million, with Gary Gardner - who was on loan at Birmingham last season - going in the opposite direction. All in all a great deal for Villa - with a talented player going their way for a fee that means it isn't really a risk, not so much for Birmingham, as evidenced by their fans' at best mixed reactions. But hey, at least the Gardner brothers are reunited. https://twitter.com/gortavfc/status/1134461182109212672?s=20 https://twitter.com/tomrichman94/status/1134477303092826113?s=20 https://twitter.com/VinceFish13/status/1134476565922963457?s=20