SPECULATION : Milner to City/Utd/Chelsea/Spurs

[Richard]

FWIW... I think he fancies the Citeh move and for the right money Villa are ready to sell him. However, if the Mancs wont cough up what we want then he'll be staying and give 100% - hopefully on an improved contract. AVFC have probably told him to keep schtum and see how thinks play out and given what happened when Barry gobbed off and failed to force a move then it's best for Milner to just keep quiet at the moment.

I'm sure he'll go but it will be on our terms, so as ever with Villa the watchword is patience. Personally I trust MON to make sure we finish the window stronger than we started it, just like we have every summer since he took over.

I'm not sure he can this summer.

I think in the previous summers it has been easier to a degree but now we have reached a point where to make us stronger requires a higher calibre of signing than we are able to get, hope I am wrong though

[OutByEaster?]

I think it would be difficult for him to stay now and I wonder if we haven't played ourselves into a corner - if we don't sell him this summer we'll most likely have to let him go next summer for a much smaller sum.

City will know that as long as there's no likelihood of him signing a new contract (and I don't think there's currently one on offer to him) then their position gets stronger.

We'll want thirty million, but getting that is dependent on the possibility we might keep him - I don't think we can afford to keep him for another season and miss out on an additional £10m in doing so.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to move closer to what City have on offer this summer to avoid taking less next summer, and for me, the longer the player does nothing, the weaker our position looks.

[Richard]

the longer the player does nothing, the weaker our position looks

Absolutely. I think it is almost certain he will be off. Other players linked to clubs seem to sign a new contract to ward off the interest, that is not so in this case.

[tismyk]

the longer the player does nothing, the weaker our position looks

Absolutely. I think it is almost certain he will be off. Other players linked to clubs seem to sign a new contract to ward off the interest, that is not so in this case.

Lets not forget, he is still on holiday.

[villabromsgrove]

Randy wants Milner to stay at Villa, so does Mon. Milner wants to play regular football, and wouldn't mind earning a fair bit more money to recognize his increasing status in the game.

Imo it doesn't seem to be anything that an hours conversation in Randy's or Mon's office on Milner's first morning back won't sort out to everyone's benefit.

[Richard]

Randy wants Milner to stay at Villa, so does Mon

Not having a go or anything but can you point me to those quotes please

[Reality]

In Randy's interview he mentioned he wanted Milner to stay,-.

[rjshare]

i cant help thinking that we may be pricing ourselves out of a good deal. if barcelona are tring to get fabregas for 30m then city would be nuts to pay the same for milner. milner is a good solid player and i really like him - but he isnt, and for my money never will be, in your fabregas bracket of player.

i also wonder with city if they really need him. they would like him obviously - hes a good player, but they arent desparate either and they might just think that 30m feels too much like having their pants pulled down and pull out. in which case there goes our funding of two or three much needed quality reinforcements...

[Mr_Dogg]

i cant help thinking that we may be pricing ourselves out of a good deal. if barcelona are tring to get fabregas for 30m then city would be nuts to pay the same for milner. milner is a good solid player and i really like him - but he isnt, and for my money never will be, in your fabregas bracket of player.

i also wonder with city if they really need him. they would like him obviously - hes a good player, but they arent desparate either and they might just think that 30m feels too much like having their pants pulled down and pull out. in which case there goes our funding of two or three much needed quality reinforcements...

But Arsenal aren't selling for £30 million are they, they are looking for 50 million or more. Well actually they are not interested in selling at all.

[Anti-Oedipus]

25m and we should sell, but I'd rather us look for something like 15m + Ireland.

He's clearly not worth any where near 30 million quid, and he never will be, he's a good player but not 30million quid good.

[Villaninireland]

He is worth what ever we say he is worth.

[Hanky]

25m and we should sell, but I'd rather us look for something like 15m + Ireland.

He's clearly not worth any where near 30 million quid, and he never will be, he's a good player but not 30million quid good.

There have been a few players who are not worth the money, that have moved. Even some of the best players in the world. The money has got ridiculous.

[smokingzen]

I think it would be difficult for him to stay now and I wonder if we haven't played ourselves into a corner - if we don't sell him this summer we'll most likely have to let him go next summer for a much smaller sum.

City will know that as long as there's no likelihood of him signing a new contract (and I don't think there's currently one on offer to him) then their position gets stronger.

We'll want thirty million, but getting that is dependent on the possibility we might keep him - I don't think we can afford to keep him for another season and miss out on an additional £10m in doing so.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to move closer to what City have on offer this summer to avoid taking less next summer, and for me, the longer the player does nothing, the weaker our position looks.

How so? Everything to date has really been speculation, though obviously the various comments made by MON and other players indicate there is some truth to some of the speculation. Nothing though has really suggested that Milner really wants to go, I'm sure he can see the pros and cons of both staying and going and would probably be happy with either scenario. I think the good thing is that both Milner and the club are fairly decent when it comes to these type of things and will have a mutual understanding and agreement of the various possibilities and scenarios.

IMO a perfectly amicable agreement will have been reached between Milner and the club that if City offer a certain amount of money we will sell him to them and Milner would be in agreement about it. I'm sure that he is also aware that such a fee this summer would be inflated because of his importance to the club. I expect that because of this there would also be an agreement that if no sale does go through this summer, then we would offer him a new improved and extended contract (which has been mentioned) but with guarantees that should he wish he could leave for a more moderate price next summer. Even if such a contract were not taken, which i believe it would be, we would still recoup our initial investment next summer. And even if that didn't come off we could keep him for then final year of his contract and we will have had the services of an excellent player for four seasons for a very reasonable fee.

To me then our position looks very strong.

[CBGB]

He is worth what ever we say he is worth.

Only if they pay it.

[villabromsgrove]

Randy wants Milner to stay at Villa, so does Mon

Not having a go or anything but can you point me to those quotes please

[/i'm not worried about losing James Milner. I think James will play for Aston Villa and should play for Aston Villa - Randy Lerner

Quotes of the week - sky sports may 20th 2010

quote]

Mon has also said on a number of occasions that he doesn't want to lose Milner.

[OutByEaster?]

He is worth what ever we say he is worth.

As long as we can afford the difference.

If we say he's worth £30m and City say £20m, but we know that next summer we'll get £15m, then he's worth £30m as long as we can afford to lose the £15m we're gambling on it.

[dudley_villa]

milners gehey!..

[TheSufferingVilla]

Signings so far this window:

Arsenal

Marouane Chamakh (Bordeaux, free); Laurent Koscielny (Lorient, undisclosed)

Aston Villa

In (signed): None

Birmingham City

In (signed): Ben Foster (Manchester United, undisclosed); Nikola Zigic (Valencia, undisclosed); Enric Valles (NAC Breda, free)

Blackburn Rovers

In (signed): None

Blackpool

In (signed): None

Bolton Wanderers

In (signed): Martin Petrov (Manchester City, free); Robbie Blake (Burnley, free)

Chelsea

In (signed): Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, undisclosed); Tomas Kalas (Sigma Olomouc, undisclosed)

Everton

In (signed): Jermaine Beckford (Leeds United, free); Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw, free); Magaye Gueye (Strasbourg, undisclosed); Joao Silva (Desportivo Das Aves, undisclosed)

Fulham

In (signed): Philippe Senderos (Arsenal, undisclosed); Jonathan Greening (West Brom, undisclosed)

Liverpool

In (signed): Joe Cole (free agent); Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege, free); Jonjo Shelvery (Charlton Athletic, £1.7m); Danny Wilson (Rangers, £2m)

Manchester City

In (signed): David Silva (Valencia, £24m); Yaya Toure (Barcelona, undisclosed); Jerome Boateng (Hamburg, undisclosed); Alex Henshall (Swindon, undisclosed)

Manchester United

In (signed): Javier Hernandez (Chivas, undisclosed); Chris Smalling (Fulham, undisclosed)

Newcastle United

In (signed): James Perch (Nottingham Forest, undisclosed)

Stoke City

In (signed): Florent Cuvelier (Portsmouth, free)

Sunderland

In (signed): Simon Mignolet (Anderlecht); Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul, undisclosed); Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (ENPPI, loan)

Tottenham Hotspur

In (signed): Sandro (Internacional, undisclosed)

West Bromwich Albion

In (signed): Steven Reid (Blackburn Rovers, free); Pablo Ibanez (Atletico Madrid, free); Gabriel Tamas (Auxerre, undisclosed)

West Ham United

In (signed): Pablo Barrera (UNAM, £4m); Frederic Piquionne (Lyon, undisclosed); Thomas Hitzlsperger (Lazio, free)

Wigan Athletic

In (signed): Antolin Alcaraz (Bruges, undisclosed); Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes, undisclosed); Ali Al-Habsi (Bolton, loan)

Wolverhampton Wanderers

In (signed): Steven Fletcher (Burnley, undisclosed); Jelle van Damme (Anderlecht, undisclosed); Adlene Guedioura (Charleroi, undisclosed); Stephen Hunt (Hull,

I don't see anyone who we could have realistically landed that would be better than those we all ready have. There's a lot of potential youngster who might come good in time but we already have an academy and reserve team of quality young talent waiting for their chance.

[OutByEaster?]

I think it would be difficult for him to stay now and I wonder if we haven't played ourselves into a corner - if we don't sell him this summer we'll most likely have to let him go next summer for a much smaller sum.

City will know that as long as there's no likelihood of him signing a new contract (and I don't think there's currently one on offer to him) then their position gets stronger.

We'll want thirty million, but getting that is dependent on the possibility we might keep him - I don't think we can afford to keep him for another season and miss out on an additional £10m in doing so.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have to move closer to what City have on offer this summer to avoid taking less next summer, and for me, the longer the player does nothing, the weaker our position looks.

How so? Everything to date has really been speculation, though obviously the various comments made by MON and other players indicate there is some truth to some of the speculation. Nothing though has really suggested that Milner really wants to go, I'm sure he can see the pros and cons of both staying and going and would probably be happy with either scenario. I think the good thing is that both Milner and the club are fairly decent when it comes to these type of things and will have a mutual understanding and agreement of the various possibilities and scenarios.

All perfectly feasible.

IMO a perfectly amicable agreement will have been reached between Milner and the club that if City offer a certain amount of money we will sell him to them and Milner would be in agreement about it.

Maybe, but I'm not sure that Milner would have any particular interest in the fee that the two clubs agree - it really makes no difference to him. The timing of the agreement does, and if he was desperate to go then I think he'd kick up a fuss to push it through. The fact that he hasn't done that suggests that he would quite probably be happy whichever club he ends up at this season.

I'm sure that he is also aware that such a fee this summer would be inflated because of his importance to the club.

Yep.

I expect that because of this there would also be an agreement that if no sale does go through this summer, then we would offer him a new improved and extended contract (which has been mentioned) but with guarantees that should he wish he could leave for a more moderate price next summer.

There'd be no reason for him to sign that contract. A contract like that would protect Villa becasue it would guarantee us a good fee for a few more years yet and would cover our arses in terms of letting him run his contract down to just a year to go.

Both of those things would be bad for Milner. They'd be bad for any player. A player who can get his contract down to less than eighteen months starts to be in control of the negotiations.

If he can get his contract down to a year, he suddenly becomes a player that Man Utd and Chelsea can afford to be interested in. The smaller fee means that he can get the big wage at any club, not just at City. It gives him control of his future and it gives him options.

As a club we're absolutely appalling at playing the contract game - many of our senior players have just a couple of years left and we don't seem in any hurry with any of them. We've lost Barry, we'll lose Reo Coker for either next to nothing this summer or for nothing next summer. Financially, these are blows that damage our development significantly - and we don't seem to be learning.

I can see no advantage to Milner in taking a new contract unless he's convinced that this is the club he desperately wants to be at and in the same way that his silence suggests he's not desperately pushing for a move, I think it also suggests he's not so tied to the Villa as to be completely against it.

Even if such a contract were not taken, which i believe it would be, we would still recoup our initial investment next summer. And even if that didn't come off we could keep him for then final year of his contract and we will have had the services of an excellent player for four seasons for a very reasonable fee.

Now this is very true and is potentially an option for us I think. It's finance that will make the difference. Can we turn down the opportunity to make the sort of money that we're talking about, can we write off an £11.5m asset?

I'm not sure we can, I think that even some of the massive spending for Premiership clubs needs to be offset by the sales of players and that eventually a club that keeps buying and doesn't make anything back ends up in a great big hole.

We'll get no money or next to money back from the purchases of Friedel, Dunne, Carew, Heskey, Petrov, Shorey, Luke Young or Beye, we might end up giving Reo Coker away for nothing and we've already let Harewood go for no return. The manager might take the occasional bit of criticism for our policy in buying players, but I'm equally concerned with how we sell them.

All of our financial eggs might well be in the James Milner basket if we're to put anything back from out last couple of years of spending, and I think City know it - I think the pressure is on us to sell.

To me then our position looks very strong.

To me it looks quite worrying.

[FoFiveKing]

Leave or stay already! 239 pages :/

Even if its just to stop this thread............