Teenage defender Kerr Smith has joined Aston Villa from Dundee United in a move that may hasten Motherwell striker Tony Watt's arrival at Tannadice.
Scotland Under-19 international Smith, 17, joins Steven Gerrard's Premier League club for an undisclosed fee.
That could make money available to buy Watt, who is due to arrive in summer having signed a pre-contract.
"There are regular discussions going on regarding multiple scenarios," said head coach Thomas Courts.
"Hopefully in the next couple of days we'll start to see a bit of a breakthrough."
Scotland cap Watt, 28, is the Scottish Premiership's top scorer this season with nine goals and United will be the 13th club, including loans spells, of his nomadic career.