Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Henri Lansbury, for a reported fee of around £3million, bringing an end to speculation linking the midfielder with a return to Norwich City.

Nottingham Forest finally gave the green light for the Arsenal academy product to move to their Sky Bet Championship rivals, having been linked with the Canaries earlier this week.

Lansbury was out of contract in the summer but the transfer had dragged on because of the takeover saga which has been ongoing at the City Ground. He has now penned a four-and-a-half year deal with Villa, on wages reported to be around £40,000 per week.

'Henri is here today, he has passed his medical and has agreed personal terms,' Bruce told the Birmingham Mail this morning.

'There is still a little bit of paperwork to do but it is a done deal. I expect him to train this morning.

'He is a good player and he can get around in midfield and chip in with goals, we need that and he fills the gap. He is somebody I have known since he was a boy, he is something a bit different and can score a goal.

'He is creative and has the ability to score and we need to improve on that. We have a very good player and I am delighted we have got him.'

Lansbury, who joined Forest from the Gunners in August 2012, has scored six goals in 19 appearances this season.

He has not played since suffering a hamstring injury before the 3-0 loss at Derby in December.

The former Canaries loanee told his new club's official site: 'I am delighted to be here at Aston Villa. As soon as I knew Aston Villa were interested, I wanted to come here.

'It's the size and reputation of the football club that attracted me. It's a big, big name in the English game and I can't wait to get started here now.'

The 26-year-old joined Forest from Arsenal in 2012, made 150 appearances and was also captain this season. He could now make his debut at home to Preston tomorrow, with Villa 13th in the Championship table.

The play-off hopefuls are also interested in Barnsley's Conor Hourihane and Middlesbrough's Jordan Rhodes, players who Norwich have also been linked with.

Bruce suggested today that any deal for Rhodes is looking unlikely but said he is more hopeful of signing midfielder Hourihane, who is out of contract with the Tykes this summer.

He added: 'We are waiting to hear back from Barnsley today and we hope we can announce something with that today.'

However, of a potential loan deal for striker Rhodes, Bruce said: 'It looks as if that's run its course. We tried our best to bring him in but that looks as if it's not going to happen.'