Over the past few years, not many players would have turned down Villa for Blues.

That is not necessarily a slant on our rivals, but the Claret and Blue have held sway over their nearest neightbours for a long time now due to their standing in English football.

However, with the news that Kris Boyd - the prolific Rangers striker - has held talks with both second city sides, it seems entirely possible that the player may prefer a switch to St Andrews.

There are numerous reasons for this, with the main one probably being the respective finances of the two clubs.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill spent big in the summer in a bid to breach the Premier League top four and he is unlikely to have much more leeway to bring players in.

His rival boss Alex McLeish, however, is in a very different position. The former Scotland boss has plenty of pounds to play with after Carson Yeung completed a takeover of Blues earlier in the season.

McLeish may not have seen much need to strengthen during the January transfer window, with his side doing so well, but he does have the financial clout should he choose to use it.

Relationship

Not knowing much about the persona of Boyd, who is the top scorer in SPL history after he overtook Henrik Larsson last month, it is difficult to assess whether he would value Villa's prospects over Blues' readies.

But another thing that may tip the balance in McLeish's favour could be his relationship with the player.

The pair enjoy a good understanding following their time together at Rangers and with the Scottish national team, meaning O'Neill could lose out.

One thing in the Villa manager's favour, though, is that he is building a squad to rival the best in the Premier League and, with Boyd currently hitting what would appear to be his peak, the lethal finisher may be lured by the prospect of some immediate silverware.

The Claret and Blue have shown that they are capable of reaching showpieces in the near future as illustrated by the Carling Cup semi-final win over Blackburn on Wednesday and it is understood that Boyd was at that match.

If he was indeed in attendance, then the hitman will have been impresed with Villa's attacking appetite and he may just have had his mind made up by James Milner and co.

But, if the super second-half showing didn't impress sufficiently, then you can bank on Boyd becoming a Blue for next season because he clearly had his focus elsewhere before even entering Villa Park.