SOCCEROOS striker Brett Holman is poised for a move to the English Premier League, with at least three sides vying for his signature.

Various sources have confirmed that Aston Villa, Fulham and Blackburn Rovers have watched the player, with Villa in particular understood to be hopeful of securing a deal while the transfer window is open in January.

In the last year of his contract with AZ Alkmaar in Holland, Holman could move within days if his side decides to cash in, before the player becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

But with AZ top of the Eredivisie by a point, the club may decide to keep him for the title push and then allow him to leave for nothing in July.

In that case Holman is likely to sign a pre-contract agreement now with one suitor to move in the off-season, but either way it seems certain he will quit Holland after a decade there.

The only concern for the player will be the fact that all three are stuck in the bottom half of the EPL table, with Blackburn in particular seemingly on a fast-track to relegation under coach Steve Kean.

But Holman's rich form for both club and country has made him a coveted property, with Borussia Monchengladbach also said to be monitoring his availability.

Villa boss Alex McLeish in particular is believed to have high regard for Holman's energetic style, and he would have no trouble gaining a work permit after playing well above the requisite 75 per cent of Australia's games over the past two years.

In fact he was the only player to feature in every single one of the World Cup qualifiers under Pim Verbeek, who selected him consistently in the face of opposition from a vocal contingent of supporters.

His resurgence has been such that Holman won the 2011 Football Media Association's Player of the Year and Socceroos boss Holger Osieck has been slavish in his praise for the player.

"I think Brett Holman should be in the Bundesliga or Premier League," Osieck said recently.

"He has become more and more important for my team.

"I have to admit I liked him from the first minute I saw him that was the 2010 FIFA World Cup game in Rustenberg when the Socceroos played Ghana.

"I said, 'wow, this boy has something' - and at that time I didn't have any clue that I'd end up here as coach."

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Originally published as EPL clubs chasing Holman