Aston Villa vacancy latestpublished at 10:17 British Summer Time 23 May 2016
Football
Pat Murphy
BBC Midlands football reporter
"I'm told the recruitment team have been involved in an exhaustive process in finding the manager for some weeks and they realise the appointment needs to be made as soon as possible.
"The preferred candidate of the current chairman Steve Hollis is Nigel Pearson and legally Hollis must make the announcement as Tony Xia is not technically in charge of the club yet, as Football League approval is still needed.
"But the ultimate decision will be Tony Xia's. He has been fully briefed on progress and has his own views on the leading candidates."