Mercury hint at Heskey approach

Popular: Heskey won two trophies with the Foxes

The Leicester Mercury has given the strongest hint yet that Sven Goran Eriksson has contacted Aston Villa about the potential signing of Leicester-born striker Emile Heskey.

Heskey, 33, would see his contract expire at Villa Park at the end of next season and the Villains could be keen to cash-in on the former England target man, with figures quoted of around £1 million for any deal with the Foxes.

The striker would be a welcome figure should he return to the city of his birth: a lifelong fan, Heskey invested as part of the consortium that saved the club from administration in 2003 and has never rubbished talk of a move back to the East Midlands.

Heskey made his last appearance in a Leicester City shirt in 2000 having scored 40 goals in 154 league appearances for his boyhood team before a club record £11 million move to Liverpool. He has since played for Birmingham and Wigan Athletic before moving to Villa for £3.5 million in 2009, having made a further 362 appearances and scoring 76 times. This unimpressive goal tally hides Heskey's ability to hold the ball, something he was credited for by subsequent England managers as he kept his place in the national squad, gaining 62 caps yet netting just seven times for his country.