Aston Villa in talks to sign striker Rudy Gestede from Blackburn

Aston Villla are in talks with Blackburn over the sale of striker Rudy Gestede.

The forward has been linked with a move to Villa Park and negotiations are ongoing between the clubs, Press Association Sport understands.

The 26-year-old scored 22 goals for Rovers last season as they finished ninth in the Sky Bet Championship and has netted 34 times in 65 games for the club.

Crystal Palace were interested in Gestede in January and he has been continuously linked with a move away from Ewood Park this summer.

Watford, Norwich and West Brom have been linked to the Benin international, who has been at Blackburn since signing permanently from Cardiff, after a loan spell, in 2014.

Villa boss Tim Sherwood is searching for more firepower after the £32.5million sale of Christian Benteke to Liverpool.

He is closing in on a loan deal for Emmanuel Adebayor, who he managed at Tottenham, with the deal expected to be completed soon.

Adebayor was given a guided tour of Villa's Bodymoor Heath training ground on Tuesday while talks continued on Wednesday.

Nantes midfielder Jordan Veretout could also be a Villa player by the end of the week with the club holding talks with the 22-year-old.

Sherwood has already signed seven players this summer and is prepared to let several squad members go, with left-back Aly Cissokho told he can leave.