Aston Villa Closing in on Pepe Reina Loan Deal Following Tom Heaton's Season Ending Injury

Aston Villa are close to the signing of AC Milan goalkeeper Pepe Reina on a six-month deal after first choice goalkeeper Tom Heaton suffered a season-ending injury. 

The former Liverpool goalkeeper is now 37 years old, and has been plying his trade in the Serie A for the last seven years. However, he game time has been very limited since his move to AC Milan in the summer, due to the fact that Milan possess one of the world's most talented goalkeepers, Gianluigi Donnarumma.

A return to the Premier League is now looking extremely likely for him, with Villans manager Dean Smith desperate for a goalkeeper to take the place of the injured Tom Heaton.

According to ​Sportsmail, a deal for the former Spanish international is now in place for the rest of the season, and they will also have the option of keeping him for one extra year.

Dean Smith spoke about the goalkeeper situation after his side's 1-1 draw in the Carabao Cup against Leicester City. He said: "We're looking at goalkeepers but whether we're close or not, I don't know. I've been at the game so I've left that to our sporting director at the moment."

Should ​Reina sign for Villa, he would be the second signing of the January transfer window for the club. ​Danny Drinkwater has already joined on loan from Chelsea for the remainder of the season, and they will be hoping that he can recover the form he showed during Leicester's Premier League title winning season.

The 29-year-old's debut could be this weekend weekend, when ​Villa host ​Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday...good luck lads!