Aston Villa scouting Timo Gebhart

Aston Villa scouts have been monitoring the progress of VfB Stuttgart centre midfielder Timo Gebhart. The German under-21 international has been with Stuttgart since 2009.

The midfielder is famous for his dashing runs into the box and his creative instinct in the final third.

Since joining Stuttgart, Gebhart has also attracted the interests of other German sides, including Werder Bremen.

However, Aston Villa are believed to be the first foreign club to have expressed some interest in the central midfielder and could make an offer in January.