Alex McLeish ponders a marquee signing

Alex McLeish was today optimistic that Villa owner Randy Lerner will allow him to sign a "top dollar" player in the summer.

The Scot was handed a mandate to bring the wage bill down when he took over at Villa Park last year on the back of excessive spending under previous managers Martin O'Neill and Gerard Houllier.

Villa reported record losses of £54m in the financial figures they published recently which demonstrated the need for McLeish to cut costs by moving on some of the high earners and more players are expected to leave in the summer.

But the Villa boss admitted that this does not necessarily preclude him from being active in the transfer market and believes the club is an attractive prospect for a player.

"We'll still try to be prudent in terms of bringing in the right players," said McLeish. "There's nothing been said to me that I couldn't bring in a player on top dollar, providing the wages are at a certain level. We've got to try to get to a certain level first and try and adhere to that kind of figure. Big transfer fees? I wouldn't rule that out and (Villa chief executive) Paul Faulkner said to me 'don't just think that you can only bring in free transfers' after we signed Brett Holman.

"Although I'm not thinking that way, I'm saying, 'no Paul, the only reason I'm recommending a free transfer is because I think he's a hell of a good player and will be a big improvement to the squad'.

McLeish also brushed off speculation in the Belgian media linking Villa with a move for Manchester United defender Ritchie De Laet – on loan at Norwich earlier this season – when the window reopens.

"It's just not really my policy to talk about other players until we really are determined to go for them," added McLeish. "But as for the guy people are talking about, I'll break my policy and said we haven't made any bids for Ritchie.

"As regards positions it's difficult for me to discuss that side of things while I've got the players here just now who are trying to get us up the table before the end of the season. So I don't want anybody to feel threatened at this time."

* Daniel Johnson scored for a youthful Villa reserve team as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat against a strong Manchester United second string which featured Tom Cleverley and Chris Smalling.