Aston Villa should battle West Brom for Leicester outcast Andy King in January

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Andy King has been frozen out of the Leicester City Premier League squad, which has encouraged West Brom to line up a January swoop to boost their promotion bid, according to the Telegraph.

The Welshman is reportedly keen to move on from the King Power Stadium and will be released in January after he has struggled to even force way into Claude Puel’s plans for the EFL Cup.

But another Championship side from the Midlands are also in need of a winter boost to their promotion hopes – Aston Villa – and the potential lack of a transfer fee could make him an enticing prospect for Dean Smith.

Villa went toe to toe with the Baggies on Friday and could make another strong statement of their promotion intent by beating them to take the rare chance to secure an experienced Premier League midfielder for nothing.

The race for top flight standard players will be so hot in the Championship, as powerhouse clubs compete to return to the big time and the opportunity to sign King is a good one.

John McGinn and Conor Hourihane have performed impressively this season, but an improvement is needed on having Glenn Whelan as cover – King could be that man.