I heard on Radio 5 today in two different news bulletins that they ‘understand’ a bid of £24m has been officially placed by Man City for Milner. This at the moment is not being reported elsewhere but I am NOT deaf 
So whilst the talks today were amicable we have no statement from either side indicating any possibility of contract talks and that can only lead to a conclusion that Milner does not want to commit himself.
Of course that means we have a choice to make, do we hang on for £28-30m we are reported to want, knowing he could go for £12-15m next summer especially if he repeats last season a lot more clubs will want him and he becomes more affordable for say a Liverpool or Spurs.
And no chance of him staying, I would imagine right now only Randy, Paul Faulkner and MON know the answer to that.
EDIT : reports on Man City’s Bluemoon forum said a reporter outside Bodymoor claimed we have rejected the £24m bid
Also on same forum they have said
Interestingly SSN has just said the reason for the delay in signing Balotelli is because CITY have stalled the deal and the reason is that all of our negotiation team are deep in talks for Milner so Balotelli has to wait.
End game ? and remember a guy commenting on here said deal would completed by tomorrow
Aston Villa News 24/7
The plot thickens
Well… The talks weren’t that bad which is great and I truly hope for Milner’s sake that he’s sold on good terms.
At least he’ll play in the pre-season tournament… Or supposedly is flying with the team to it.
i think they shoul take it. after all that happened[reportedly] ,alot of the villa fans wont want him back at VP
We’re playing this just right. I just really hope that Ireland is part of the deal.
man city wont do anything this season. especially if they sign sulker balotelli. milner should stay and show some loyalty.
I think we’ll accept that or even less as i truly believe MON is trying to get Ireland or Richards or Onuoha as part of it.
It wouldn’t surprise me if we are waiting on a decision from one of those players before the deal can go through.
Gutted to lose Milner but if we get 1 maybe 2 of those players above. We’ve done well out of it.
All this uncertainty unsettles the team and complicates the issue of Villa’s own priorities in the transfer market.
Why waste valuable time holding out for another couple of million? The season kicks of in two weeks.
Mancini has already said he won’t be held to ransom over any player. What if he pulls out now? Where would that leave us? With an unhappy player running down his contract!! And the fee from Sidwell to spend on new signings!
Just get it done and move swiftly on.
I can’t, for the life of me, believe he’ll be on the plan that leaves for Portugal on Wednesday and therefore I am expecting something substantial to happy tomorrow i.e. a fee agreed and permission given to allow City to speak to Milner. To be quite honest, I will be disappointed if this is not the case by this time tomorrow evening! Let’s just get it over with, and concentrate on building our own team for next season.
what has happened? sorry but are some of you thick or something …… how can you get on milners back, when you dont know what has been said. What if milner has told mon he wants to sign a new deal, but he wants the club to make some ambitous moves? Some of these so called villa fans are just stupid, im confident a new contract may be signed
If’s and But’s
If’s and But’s
It’s not a case what if, it’s what’s actually going on.
No where has it said that Milner wants to sign a new deal. Clearly he doesn’t or all of this wouldn’t be happening beause he would have signed a new contract already.
You sound very hypocritical calling other people stupid.
So we’re playing hard ball?
Good!
“Of course that means we have a choice to make, do we hang on for £28-30m we are reported to want, knowing he could go for £12-15m next summer especially if he repeats last season a lot more clubs will want him and he becomes more affordable for say a Liverpool or Spurs.”
Yes, good point this.
It may well be that it would be better for him to go to one of those clubs over city.
But let’s face it, if city keep piling the money in, they’re going to be challenging whatever happens. It’s just a matter of time
We should go for as much as we can get and £24 mill isn’t enough if it’s straightforward cash deal.
I’d still rather keep him, as long as we can keep him happy.
I think some of us forget he could be a lynchpin to any side for years.
That doesn’t come cheap.
Somehow I cannot see Milner making the plane to Portugal. City have a lot of new players to bed in and their squad is due home from the usa in the next 24hrs I believe. They need time to gel, so watch this draw to a very quick conclusion now. Spurs also returning so Bellamy to them, Keono to us and we could have Ireland too by the weekend! Doing business prior to deadline day!! What next, squad roration for next season too as lessons learned from previous mistakes?? Hope so…
agree GH, just can not see him on the plane, as I said we had the post claiming deal tomorrow, well this is it !!
problem is Badger we saw with Barry once head is turned player is never the same again.
He is sparing Milner tomorrow (unlike Barry) because Milner has not spouted out in public and I suspect to protect Milner which I appreciate
I’ll be sorry to see him leave, but I’m excited by the whole situation too. This could be a massive opportunity for us if we play it right.
One thing is certain, when Milner comes back to Villa Park and he’s not wearing Claret and Blue, I’ll give him nothing but the respect he deserves.
Get rid. Take £20m plus Ireland…
i cant belive people would do anything but boo him. If its true that he wants to go and he does then why should he have any respect when we were the ones that showed loyalty in waiting for him after it fell through the year before and paid 12 million. I did not see any other clubs quing up for him. We then gave him the oportunity to play in centre mid and gave him the platform to earn a world cup space while paying him very well during this period. And guess what ?? the first sign of some extra cash and he wants off, well i tell you what, bye bye frankenstein. Gareth Barry gave us the best years of his career and was offered champions league football (AT LIVERPOOL) after trying year after year with us in some dire teams and was told to stay, he then gets dogs abuse, plays his heart out, we flop at the last minute thanks to Martin and his excellent tactics, rotation and signings – all said sarcasticly. And then deciededs you know what im off and guess what gets a mouth full!!!!!!!. Its funny because everyone though ashley young was the big time charlie who would be off but we can just see who is now showing their true colours. I would take 24, problem is i dont trust mon to spend it – see downing, reo coker, sidewell, hesky, beye, shorey, salifou countinuing to take a wage, warnock, davies etc etc for examples of why not
Geez,
Let’s hope he goes and we end up forced to keep and play Reo in a centre defensive midfield role in a 451 with Ash & Albrighton on the wings plus Downing & Petrov in centre mid. Who knows, when forced to play players in their natural positions (Barry & Milner)we end up gaining lots of dosh.
24m? Then they can sling their hook. Either 28m cash or 20m plus Ireland. If they can’t afford it he can stay and build bridges
cb
I agree O’Neill’s been pretty bad in the Transfer Market, but some of his signings would have been great if he played them. Like Davies, Reo-Coker, Salifou, Beye.
Ireland, Hart & Onahua would do nicely IMO.
Onuoha? No thanks. Lichaj is a better RB and Onuoha’s just a CB turned RB.