Aston Villa manager John Gregory is understood to have run the rule over two international players at the weekend.

Gregory is also thought to be keeping tabs on the Paris St. Germain striker, Xavier Gravelaine. He is reported to have trained with Villa last week and the 31-year-old could be on offer for around £1million.

Meanwhile, Gregory was planning to watch two Euro 2000 qualifying games at the weekend. He would not reveal just who his targets where, but he was understood to have been in Paris to see France play Iceland.

His target in the French side is set to have been the Auxerre midfielder, Bernard Diomede, who is valued at around £4million and who plays on the left-hand side of a 4-4-2 formation.

This is a position that Gregory has been keen to fill as he seeks to add some more guile to his side in the final third of the pitch. The other game that he seems likely to have watched is the clash between Spain and Israel on Sunday although it is unclear just who his target might have been in that match.

As well as watching games himself, Gregory dispatched his back room team to other games around Europe. Gregory was not hiding from the fact that he was keen to put one, and possibly, two deals in progress during Villa's break from Premiership action.

The Villa chief is also waiting to see if Benito Carbone makes fresh contact with Villa this week. A move for the Sheffield Wednesday ace floundered last week due to the personal terms that the former Inter Milan ace demanded. But the signs are that Gregory would resume talks with the Carbone camp if they lower their demands.