Mr_Dogg Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Guardian Aston Villa face a major battle to keep hold of James Milner after Manchester City identified the midfielder as one of their summer transfer targets. The England international has been in outstanding form this season, prompting Martin O'Neill to admit last week that he anticipates interest in Milner from leading clubs at home and abroad. There has been speculation that Manchester United are monitoring Milner's position but City's interest is known to be stronger and promises to pose a major threat to any hopes their neighbours might have of signing the former Leeds United trainee. City's Abu Dhabi owners will sanction another lavish spending spree before the start of next season as part of their plans to become a major force in world football and that process will be largely overseen by Brian Marwood, the club's football administrator. Marwood has long admired Milner's qualities as a footballer and also knows the player well from his previous employment as head of UK operations for Nike, which sponsors the 24-year-old. Villa would be likely to demand double the £12m they paid Newcastle United for Milner two years ago and the player could also expect to double his £45,000-a-week wages at Eastlands. Financing a deal will present no problem for the world's richest club but much may depend on whether City seize the final Champions League qualification spot and how events unfold at Villa Park during the summer. Milner has two years remaining on his contract and, although Villa have signalled their intention to extend that deal and offer improved terms, no talks are scheduled. O'Neill said last month that he was keen to ensure there are no distractions for Milner and suggested that the two parties might not sit down to discuss a new contract until after the World Cup. Since making those comments, however, O'Neill's long-term future has become uncertain and it may well be that Milner's next move is dependent on the decision the Villa manager makes on his own position in the summer. Milner is known to feel a debt of gratitude to Villa and in particular to O'Neill, whose desire to sign Milner led to the club paying Newcastle what many felt at the time was an inflated fee, and his decision this season to move him from wide right to central midfield has proved a masterstroke. Both those factors are likely to weigh heavily on Milner's mind should O'Neill opt to stay at Villa Park for a fifth season. There is, however, also an acceptance that Champions League football would be hard for him to resist at a time when Villa appear to have hit a glass ceiling. O'Neill said this month that "for James to continue to improve we will need to improve the standard of our player", yet there have been suggestions that the club's owner, Randy Lerner, will tighten rather than loosen the purse strings this summer. O'Neill suggested that, if that were the case, one potential way to deal with it would be through "maybe taking a risk with a major player to be transferred [out] to sort things out". He would, however, be extremely reluctant to lose Milner. Fabio Capello described him as England's most improved player this season and his impressive performances were recognised last week when he was shortlisted for the Professional Footballers' Association young player of the year award. Those performances have also caught Sir Alex Ferguson's eye, although the United manager is expected to have other priorities in the summer, including a new striker, before he turns his attention to strengthening an ageing midfield. It would rankle with Villa supporters if another key player was sold to City in the wake of Gareth Barry's transfer last year, although the circumstances are different. Whereas Barry had been agitating for a transfer for 12 months and was happy to join a club that had failed to qualify for Europe, Milner has never rocked the boat at Villa and is unlikely to move unless Champions League football were on offer. Just feck off with all these depressing stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted April 19, 2010 Moderator Share Posted April 19, 2010 I'd say we may aswell get used to the links. And get used to them being to Citeh. We just need to believe it when we see it, but until then remain healthily sceptical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newry_Villan Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 City eh? £50m it is then!! Hold the **** to ransom!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Perhaps we could lighten things up by playing "Milner Transfer Bingo". We've already had Man U and Man C putting in bids for him. The first person to spot interest reported by each of the following: Arsenal Liverpool Chelsea Barcelona Real Madrid Newcastle (playing their Joker) gets full house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I'd say we may aswell get used to the links. And get used to them being to Citeh. We just need to believe it when we see it, but until then remain healthily sceptical Can we post the above quote under every thread started which states one of our players is going to move this summer. It's the only way to think and will save pages of speculation over someting that may or may not even happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanky Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Wondered how long this would take to surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notoriousjim Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I'm so hoping those f***ers don't get fourth precisely because of bullshit stories like this. What an incentive to beat them at their place too, even if we can't finish above them hopefully we can scupper their pursuit of fourth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parisvilla Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Perhaps we could lighten things up by playing "Milner Transfer Bingo". We've already had Man U and Man C putting in bids for him. The first person to spot interest reported by each of the following: Arsenal Liverpool Chelsea Barcelona Real Madrid Newcastle (playing their Joker) gets full house. haha Newcastle. Remember when they hi-jacked United's bid for Wazza and tried to sign him from under Fergie's nose. They're so deluded... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu_The_Villan Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Villa would be likely to demand double the £12m they paid Newcastle United for Milner two years ago This made me chuckle. As if they think we would be happy with double what we paid. Hes probably triple...**** it...quadruple that amount now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Villa would be likely to demand double the £12m they paid Newcastle United for Milner two years ago This made me chuckle. As if they think we would be happy with double what we paid. Hes probably triple...**** it...quadruple that amount now. Despite our high regard of Jimmy I don't think many teams would pay £24m for him; maybe only manciteh if their manager at the time takes a real 'fancy' to him. I therefore hope we value Milner at £25m+, unless manciteh come knocking when it should be £30m+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Ireland and £30m will do it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phumfeinz Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Merson seems certain that he's going to Man Utd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu_The_Villan Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Put it this way...IF he goes (and its a big if, i think hes happy here) then it will have to be for TOP dollar. Anything below 40m and they can jog on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddy Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Despite our high regard of Jimmy I don't think many teams would pay £24m for him; maybe only manciteh if their manager at the time takes a real 'fancy' to him. I therefore hope we value Milner at £25m+, unless manciteh come knocking when it should be £30m+. Well if they paid over £20m for Lescott (think they did anyway), then surely Milner is worth a good £40m in their eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Ireland and £30m will do it You've got the 6 counties. No more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villadude Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 30m plus Barry, I'd probably be ok with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Ireland plus 10m please. If we used the money shrewdly we'd come out on top there imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Dogg Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 Ireland plus 10m please. If we used the money shrewdly we'd come out on top there imo I'd say Ireland is worth £10 million max at this moment in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoaxn Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 50m to anyone else, but 'cos it's Man City, it's 100m. Plus Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Ireland plus 10m please. If we used the money shrewdly we'd come out on top there imo I'd say Ireland is worth £10 million max at this moment in time. only coz hes been left out in the cold thats what id take, if they actually enquired though id push for ireland and £20m initially, see what they say. might end up getting a few bob more than the £10m i suggested i do think tho, that a straight swap of jimmy for ireland (in terms of on the pitch) wouldnt leave us too far off where we are now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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