John Gregory, the Aston Villa manager, will move swiftly today to complete the £5.5 million signing of the Wolves teenager Robbie Keane after discovering that his front-line striker Dion Dublin is likely to miss the start of the season with a recurrence of his knee trouble.

Despite Dublin's injury Gregory will not delay the three-month loan move of Stan Collymore to the Division One newcomers Fulham. However, Collymore's departure and Dublin's injury leave Julian Joachim and Paul Merson as Villa's only recognised strikers, and Gregory accepts he needs to bring in Keane as quickly as possible to try to bolster his attacking force.

Keane is due to return from Sweden with his Wolves team-mates today after their pre-season trip, and Gregory is hopeful that the deal can be concluded in plenty of time for the 19-year-old Republic of Ireland player to travel with Villa on Wednesday for a four-team tournament in New York.

Villa will also complete the £1 million signing of the Israeli defender Najuan Garayeb today. Garayeb was poised to join Tottemham Hotspur but Spurs back-pedalled and the deal broke down when Garayeb's medical at White Hart Lane revealed that he had a knee problem. Amid threats of legal action Garayeb's future in English football seemed over before it had started until Gregory moved in quickly with a counter-offer.

Villa will recoup nearly half of their outlay by selling the former England Under-21 captain Riccardo Scimeca to Nottingham Forest for an initial £2.5 million, with a further £500,000 depending on first-team appearances.

Nottingham Forest manager David Platt is also confident he will complete the £1.5 million signing of the Chelsea midfielder Bjarne Goldbaek this week.

Platt has about £10 million at his disposal for team rebuilding. He also inquired about Chelsea's young Finnish striker Mikael Forssell but the move was rebuffed by Chelsea's Gianluca Vialli.