Bolton appear to have won the race to sign Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill in a £5million deal.

Bolton were the first club to agree a fee with Villa for the Academy product, who had spent three months on loan with Sheffield United earlier this season.

Then Villa's city rivals Birmingham had made a late attempt to sign Cahill after matching Villa's valuation of the player.

But sources close to the player have indicated that Cahill "wants to make a complete break from the Midlands" and rebuild his career at the Reebok Stadium.

The 22-year-old has decided not to follow in the footsteps of Liam Ridgewell, who moved from Villa to Birmingham in a £2million deal during the summer.

Cahill had slipped down the pecking order at Villa after appearing regularly during the first half of the 2006-07 campaign.

He found himself behind Martin Laursen, Olof Mellberg, Curtis Davies and Zat Knight.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill did not want Cahill to go on loan for the remainder of the season as he would not be able to recall him at any juncture.

Cahill has been with Villa since he was a youngster and two seasons ago had a successful spell on loan at Burnley, where he captured 10 various Player of the Year awards.

But he found himself always struggling to hold down a regular first-team place at Villa and the arrival during the summer of Davies and Knight signalled the beginning of the end for his Villa prospects.

His decision not to move to Birmingham is a big blow for their manager Alex McLeish, who only has Ridgewell and Rafael Schmitz as recognised centre-halves, with Radhi Jaidi currently on African Cup of Nations duty.

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