Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has revealed that he tried to sign Southampton's Dusan Tadic last year.
The Serbian has earned rave reviews for his performances since joining the Saints from FC Twente, but Lambert has said that he approached the Dutch club in January 2013 only to be put off by the price tag.
He told the Birmingham Mail: "We tried to get Tadic here the January before last.
"We tried to do something but couldn't do it. That's the way it goes because he's a good player.
"We've known about his talents for a while now but we couldn't quite get it done."
Tadic spent two seasons at Twente, prior to joining Southampton.
