Nicklas Helenius pleads for Aston Villa move

The striker is set to jet into Birmingham for talks over the weekend while the clubs haggle over a fee.

On Tuesday, Danish side Aalborg gave permission for the 22-year-old to travel to England and a deal could be done by the start of next week.

Villa could get the 6ft 5in hitman for around £2million and Helenius is desperate not to miss out on the chance of playing in the Premier League.

He said: "I hope AaB will show enough co-operation and not demand too much money for me. The market is not ready for big transfers at the moment.

"I have already secured the club a lot of money through my goals and I am on my first professional contract, so I am not making an awful lot of money."

Helenius is prepared to snub interest from Germany to bag a move and personal terms are not expected to be a problem.

A source close to the player said: "There's lots of interest, including in Germany but he is focusing 100 per cent on this.

"Aalborg said he was allowed to travel over there and, hopefully, he will become an Aston Villa player."

Helenius scored 16 goals in the Danish Superliga last season and was being tracked by West Brom, Norwich and Fulham last year.

He admitted he preferred a move to Germany in 2012 but now the forward wants to join Paul Lambert's revolution – and eyed a first-team place.

Helenius said: "Aston Villa is a very exciting club known to use young players. I therefore think the club will be taking me to England and letting me play.

"I do not want to come to England to sit on the bench."

Villa have already signed Aleksandar Tonev from Polish club Lech Poznan and Lambert is keen on doing early business.

And Aalborg's new sports director Allan Gaarde has confirmed the clubs are still thrashing out a fee for Helenius but believes a deal is close.

Gaarde said: "We had a long debate, but we have not quite agreed. However, we are close."