COMMENT By Will Butcher

Steve Bruce must replace two potential departures at Aston Villa by battling Midlands rivals Birmingham in the race to sign Bristol City defenders Aden Flint and Joe Bryan.

Football Insider revealed on Tuesday that Harry Redknapp's Blues have tabled a £5million double bid for centre-back Flint and left-back Bryan.

Redknapp wants to sign 6ft 5in colossus Flint this summer amid Leeds interest after losing out to Villa in pursuit of defender John Terry.

Signing Bryan could be a difficult transfer to complete, with Middlesbrough and Leeds also keen to sign the pocket-sized 23-year-old.

Aston Villa have already allowed Nathan Baker to join Lee Johnson's Bristol City and they could use that to their advantage to smooth over a deal to sign both Robins defenders.

Football Insider analyses why the duo would be perfect signings at Villa Park this summer in Bruce's promotion hunt, with the futures of two other defenders still up in the air:

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Championship experience

Both Flint and Bryan were key components of City's side last season as the Robins managed to steer clear of relegation back to the third tier of English football.

The duo were a part of the Robins side that gained promotion from League One in 2014-15 and have clocked up a combined 196 Championship appearances.

That prior connection, as well as second-tier know how, will prove crucial in a side that Bruce has already tried to add Championship experience too in Henri Lansbury, Conor Hourihane and Scott Hogan.

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£5million a bargain

With prices sky-rocketing these days, signing two of the division's highest-rated defenders for a combined £5million figure is a stroke of genius.

Owner Tony Xia spent a mammoth load on the likes of Hogan, Ross McCormack and Jonathan Kodjia last season, but that spending power is yet to be seen this season.

That could be because he is less willing to splash the cash and would rather look for a deal on the cheap. Signing Flint and Bryan for £5million certainly comes under the category, cheap.

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Amavi and Elphick set to leave?

Telefoot journalist Julien Maynard claimed on his personal Twitter account that Monaco have been in talks with left-back Jordan Amavi, with his future in doubt since Neil Taylor arrived.

The Tweet is translated as "After failure transfer Seville, J. Amavi continues his Prep at Aston Villa. Contact with Monaco and other clubs. Nothing concrete at the moment."

Similarly, the Birmingham Mail claim Leeds, Sunderland and Birmingham are all keen on centre-back Tommy Elphick. If both are sold, a new centre-back and left-back is needed.

Step forward Flint and Bryan, with Villa likely to make a profit if they decided to sell both Elphick and Amavi and bring in the Robins defenders.

In other Aston Villa transfer news, Championship promotion rivals Sunderland are confident of completing a move to sign this Villa star.

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