O’NEILL SO SWEET ON SWEDE BERG AT £8

Aston Villa manager O’Neill has been made aware of Berg’s availability by agents acting on behalf of his club, Groningen.

Everton and Tottenham have already made known their interest in the winner of the Golden Boot at the European Under-21 Championship.

But O’Neill is likely to jump to the head of the queue to avoid losing striker John Carew, who is wanted by Harry Redknapp.

O’Neill has an interest in Spurs’ Robbie Keane, but would have to part with Carew to land the Republic of Ireland international. To avoid doing business with Tottenham over Carew, O’Neill is leaning towards a move for Berg, who scored seven goals in four games in Sweden’s run to the semi-finals.

Berg has fast acquired a reputation in Holland, having scored 15 league goals in his first season with Groningen following a move from IFK Gothenburg in 2007. That was despite having played only 25 matches because of a back injury.

Last season he added a further 17, taking his tally to 32 in just 56 games.

Berg has a contract until 2011, which means his asking price will plummet after this summer.