Aston Villa are poised to launch a late bid to try and snap up the teenage star Robbie Keane from Wolves.

Villa have made known their interest in Keane, who is set to celebrate his 19th birthday on Thursday, but will have to move quickly if they are to lure him to Villa Park. Middlesbrough are hoping to complete a £6million swoop for the player. Bryan Robson's Riverside Stadium outfit have formally tabled a bid of £6m for Keane and that offer is now being considered by the Wolves board. Wolves are aware that Villa have been keeping tabs on the availability of Keane ever since the club revealed last month that they would be willing to consider offers for their teenage star.

Villa have yet to make a bid, with boss John Gregory feeling that Wolves' valuation of £6m is somewhat excessive for a player who is untried at Premiership level. Villa are hoping that they could persuade Wolves to accept a lower offer. Now that there is a firm bid of £6m on the table from Middlesbrough, it is unlikely that Wolves would accept anything less than that figure. Colin Lee has ruled out getting involved in an auction for the services of Keane and has also dismissed speculation that the player was not happy with the prospect of making a move to Middlesbrough. The manager explained: "If we accept the offer Robbie will be given permission to talk to Middlesbrough. We don't really want to get involved in an auction for him. But if another club comes in with an offer for Robbie then we will have to listen to them." "It will be left for Robbie to decide just what he wants to do. It is not true that he has expressed reservations about a move to Boro."

Keane is set to have talks with the Teesside club before the weekend. If the player can agree terms he will move to the Riverside Stadium. If Boro can't entice the player, he will almost certainly move to Villa, for a reduced fee which could drop as low as £5m.