Sky Sports "understands"* that Aston Villa have made a bid for Middlesbrough left back Joe Bennett. The 22-year-old has represented England at the U-19, U-20, and U-21 levels and has been a regular starter for Boro since the 2010-11 season. While Aaron Cresswell seemed to be Villa's top left back target, but BBC Sport West Midlands pundit Richard Wilford has been banging the Bennett drum for a couple of weeks now.

Like most lower-division players I haven't seen Bennett much or at all, but a quick scan of Twitter and scouting reports would lead one to believe that he's quite well liked by the Boro faithful. With so little depth at left back, pretty much any addition would be welcome news; if it turns out to be a highly-rated youngster, all the better.

*I recognize that this is likely just a difference between English-English and American-English, but this particular phrase has always seemed odd to me. Are the mechanics of the transfer market really so complex that understanding how a bid works is noteworthy?