Villa accept West Ham's James bid

West Ham were today holding talks with goalkeeper David James after Aston Villa accepted an offer for the England goalkeeper.

Villa operations director Steve Stride told the club's website: "We've accepted an offer from West Ham.

"It's now up to David James. He is in talks with them today."

Meanwhile, Glenn Roeder today confirmed that Welsh international John Hartson is one of the names on his shortlist of possible signings.

Hartson, who spent two seasons at West Ham before moving to Wimbledon for a club record fee of £7.5 million, finished the season at relegated Coventry but wants to return to Premiership football.

Celtic and Leicester are also interested in signing the 26-year-old striker. New West Ham manager Roeder said: "It is true I have considered John, but I have other names in mind as well."

Roeder is impressed by Hartson's scoring ratio but may have reservations about the long-term fitness of the former Arsenal striker, who has a recent history of knee problems.

Roeder also claimed today that West Ham had received no approach from Manchester United about Italian striker Paolo Di Canio.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is reported to be keen on signing Di Canio, with the possibility of Dwight Yorke moving to Upton Park in a part-exchange deal, but Roeder said: "I hear that negotiations with United are supposed to be well advanced but it's news to me.

"We haven't had an approach from United and I'm looking forward to having Paolo back with us for pre-season training."

England defender Gareth Southgate was today expected to complete a £6.5m move from Villa to Middlesbrough. Southgate has been keen to leave Villa since last year and met new Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren for talks yesterday.

He said: "I was very impressed with what Steve had to say and I am excited about the prospect of joining such a progressive club."