Pogrebnyak has made an immediate impact in the Premier League since joining Fulham from Stuttgart in the January transfer window.
Reports have claimed McLeish is planning a summer move for the highly-rated striker.
“Fulham did well in January and brought Pavel Pogrebnyak into the set-up,” said the Villa boss in the Birmingham Mail.
“He is a player who I’ve seen and have been in touch with his agent over the past few years trying to sign him – but the timing was just not quite right.
“Will the timing be right in the summer? I don’t want to be in the bad books with Fulham talking about their player. He’s a player I flirted with in the past but I shouldn’t really be talking about someone else’s player.
“I need to be careful what I’m saying here because my players will be reading this. We are lacking a bit of experience and hopefully that is something we can put right.”
