Aston Villa hope to complete the signing of winger Charles N'Zogbia by the end of the week after agreeing a £9.5million fee with Wigan.
N'Zogbia is now due to discuss personal terms with Villa and then undergo a medical.
If all goes to plan, N'Zogbia will put pen to paper on a five-year contract and become new Villa boss Alex McLeish's second signing of the summer.
McLeish will hope the deal is done and dusted by the time Villa return from their current tour of Hong Kong after the weekend.
It means McLeish is finally set to sign N'Zogbia at the third attempt.
The Scot looked to have landed the services of N'Zogbia 12 months ago when in charge at Birmingham only for the deal to collapse at the 11th hour over personal terms.
Then McLeish's bid to sign the former Newcastle player earlier this summer was halted when Wigan rejected an initial £9m bid from Villa.
Villa said in a statement: "The club are pleased to confirm that we have agreed a fee with Wigan for French international winger Charles N'Zogbia.
"We will now discuss personal terms with the player and arrange a medical, with a view to completing the transfer later this week."
McLeish has been keen to bring in a new wide player after the sale of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively for total fees of around £36m.
N'Zogbia fits the bill and his efforts during the tail end of last season played a major part in Wigan retaining their Barclays Premier League status, including scoring a last-gasp winner against West Ham.
He will be reunited with his former Newcastle team-mate Shay Given, who last week became McLeish's first signing of the summer in a £3.5m move from Manchester City.
But the Frenchman will have to wait to meet Villa's first-team squad as he does not have the required work visa to join up with the Hong Kong trip.
He will instead work at Villa's Bodymoor Heath training complex if and when the deal is formally completed.
McLeish is relishing the prospect of finally being able to work with N'Zogbia.
The Scot said: "He is an exciting player and someone I've admired for quite a while.
"I'm pleased we've managed to agree a fee and hope we can reach agreement with Charles as soon as possible."
