Hibs boss Bobby Williamson has confirmed that Ecuadorian midfielder
Ulises de la Cruz is travelling to Aston Villa for talks over a £2m
switch.
Villa
manager Graham Taylor has been linked with the burly de la Cruz
all summer, but refused to confirm or deny reports that a deal for
the 56-times capped player was close.
However, Williamson has told the Edinburgh Evening News that a move
to Villa was close for the player after revealing he was flying
into England from the club's Finnish pre-season training base for
talks with the Villa manager.
He said: "I got a call on Wednesday night to say the clubs
had agreed terms and Ulises was to fly home to get everything sorted
out.
"He was up early this morning to catch a flight from Helsinki
to London to sort out his own terms, and I'd imagine that will happen.
I think he came to Hibs for the next step and that is the Premiership
or Spain or Italy.
"He never came to me and said he was unhappy at Hibs, in fact
he was speaking to the players and the impression I got from them
was that he was sad to be leaving but happy to be going to the Premiership.
"That may have been the carrot dangled in front of him, come
to Hibs, give us a year or two and there might be something bigger
for you. It perhaps happened a bit quicker than we thought."
De la Cruz, who played for his country in the World Cup this summer,
joined Hibs in a £700,000 move from Deportivo Universitaria
in June 2001.
