MON – No imminent transfers – and addressing all rumours
After 4 years of MON at Villa we should be used to his comments and the way of thinking but these comments today whilst in Portugal I have to say I am not encouraged by the words but do they reflect the reality ?
ON TRANSFERS
On incoming activity, he added: “There’s nothing imminent – let me put it that way.
“We’re on the lookout and we’ll see what does develop.”
This will of course anger many as it is clear we need a few gaps filled with quality players. However with caution that MON could say this today and sign someone next week and to add that the number of current moves are very low.
DISMISSING YOUNG and PETROV RUMOURS
On Young “I had a bit of a wry smile about it. It’s part of the game, it’s just that some things go close to the knuckle, if there are certain things that are well off the mark and are detrimental to the football club and the way we’re running it of course I’ll get irked.
“But not those type of things.”
On Petrov “But that doesn’t mean that teams like Liverpool wouldn’t be interested in him because he’s a top quality player. But as we speak, no-one from Liverpool has contacted us.
ON PETROV CAPTAINCY
“Players will say things through him and he will voice that opinion to me, whatever that might be and from that viewpoint it works pretty well. He’s not frightened to put his own opinion across and he’s not frightened to act on behalf of the players. He’s been excellent.”
ON MILNER
“I’ve left that with the chief executive and the owner and I’m sure that they’ll fill me in with what might have developed.
“I think that there is some sort of dialogue going on and I think that you can see that Manchester City have made an offer which has not been accepted and it hasn’t reached the valuation that Aston Villa are putting on James. Who know what might happen in the foreseeable future? The answer is I’m not sure myself.”
This interview on the OS is one of the most comprehensive I have seen from MON for a long while addressing all the recent news and rumours and either dismissing or confirming them.
From this interview I can only conclude the future of Milner and the selling of the likes of Sidwell and Shorey is vital to our whole transfer policy. Also very noticeable is that every interview when asked about Milner he is making it clear he has nothing to do with whether he gets sold or not, which as I posted a couple of days is a major gear shift for MON.
Support Sir Graham Taylor, fantastic effort
Hat tip Vital Lincoln
Sir Graham Taylor is doing a London to Paris bike ride in aid of the British Legion and this is something I admire from a pensioner. 4 years ago I did the same ride and it is bloody tough and I was 34 at the time.
Fantastic effort by Sir Graham and watch out for the killer hills on the North Downs, this is appeal
The Club Patron of Lincoln City FC and Patron of the Lincoln City Supporters’ Trust is looking for Imps supporters and others to back him in a charity event.
“Hi,
At long last I am doing something worthwhile!!
I am one of approximately 300 people who are going to cycle from London to Paris in an attempt to raise in excess of £500,000 for The Royal British Legion. Starting at Greenwich Park on Thursday September 2nd we all hope to be celebrating when finishing at the Arc de Triomphe on Sunday September 5th.
Obviously I am now looking for as many sponsors as possible, and hopefully this is where you come in!
You can support me by making a donation by visiting JUST GIVING GRAHAM TAYLOR and/or texting ‘graham` to 70222. The text message costs £3 plus standard network charges.
The Royal British Legion is the nation`s leading Armed Forces charity providing care and support to all members of the British Armed Forces past and present and their families. It is also the national Custodian of Remembrance and safeguards the Military Covenant between the nation and its Armed Forces. It is of course best known for the annual Poppy Appeal and its emblem the red poppy.
Finally as I come to the end of my first year as an O.A.P I cannot think of a better way of celebrating it than cycling from London to Paris. Can you? Thanks for your support.
Best Wishes
Graham Taylor’
Is Ireland to stay in Manchester and further Milner updates
Hat tip : H&V
If this is really Stephen Ireland’s twitter feed looks like he is going nowhere south of Manchester
staying in manchester!
about 2 hours ago via web
If he is really staying at City and not moving to Bolton, Blackburn, Man U etc, we can only presume the stories of Milner deal being definitely off is correct
On the OS they have pictures of the training session and Milner features heavily, smiling. Also on the front page they have a link to the pictures and once again Milner features.
Are these signs he is going to stay ?
If I was Milner I would think very carefully about his next steps, If they want him that much they would pay the cash so how much do they really want him, is he just a stop gap on their way to universal domination.
Look at these quotes from City fans on BBC 606
Richardtheref
As a City fan i hope this is true. Just because you were ripped off by Newcastle you now feel that you can rip us off. No one on this earth can persuade me that he is worth more than 8 million. Another average English player whose club value him far higher than his talent deserves just coz its City.
aleras
We wont pay more than £24 million – £10 million more than he is actually worth.
Stay where the fans love you, the manager loves you.
Stay where you play in your true position and not as a utility player.
Stay where you made your name, forget the big bucks, some things are worth more than money.
Stay where you can be a Villa legend and England star
SPECULATION : Milner compromise on £28m, Spurs swaps for Young
The Mirror once again comes up with some corkers.
First up is that they reckon Villa and Man city will compromise at £28m cash after a precise £24,6m was rejected. We have dismissed swaps for Ireland and Bellamy as we want all cash.
Secondly and rather boring a story that Spurs will offer Keane, Bentley and Jenas and no cash for young who we want £30m for. Apparently the lure of Young is a pay rise from £60 to £65m, JOKERS.
Oh and both articles repeat the mantra of ‘sell to buy’ the Mirror has peddled the past month.
the sun just has one story on Luke Young rejecting move because
did not want to take 10k pay drop
did not want to move family there
did not want to be on the bench
We all could have made that up
ITK – Milner deal collapsed and MON turning into Cloughie
On H&V a regular poster called Juan Pablo has said the Milner deal has collapsed
Milner deal looks off –
Milner thinks it will collapse
( until next year ))
Its what he feels… not saying a lot.. The clubs aint saying a lot neither
Well thats what James feels..I can only tell you what James is saying….
I understand this guy may have proper information but as usual it is all a ITK story and should NOT be taken as the gospel truth 
For my pennies worth whatever our valuation is Man City will not pay it (£30m reckoned to be it) ad we knw over the Barry deal just how stubborn we are once we have our minds set.
I have no doubt that Milner will give us all for Villa but this will certainly restrict the budget though !
IF true I want Villa to come out with a firm statement that no bids whatever the money will be entertained until the end of the season, put it to bed
As usual following Villa is NOT boring
Thanks to GH on the comments he made me aware of this MON comment
The manager said: “We met on Monday, and the word amicable was quite right. I suppose I could use the old Cloughie line that we chatted for 20 minutes and decided I was right all along!”
Love that quote as it shows MON is in total control of the situation and does indicate that whoever spoke for Milner on the weekend is no longer involved.
Milner looks relaxed in all the photo’s so positive all roung
SSN – Young turns down transfer and linked with Fulham
Hat tip – ‘MonsXI’ Villatalk
Sky Sports News are reporting that Luke Young has turned down a move to Liverpool for ‘family reasons’
I hope he gets a decent move but he may need to reduce his wage demands if he wants a move to say Fulham or West Ham who have been linked before.
Now now Sky ‘understand’ that Fulham are interested which has been linked before and understandable on all sides if the wages can be sorted and Young accepts a reduction.
In defence of Stan Petrov
Since the Mirror story broke last night it was going to always be obvious that it would split fans between those who say ‘good riddance’ and those who say he should stay.
There is no doubt whatsoever that Stan Petrov divides support amongst the Villans and for various reasons. However to address the naysayers I will post this defence of Stan, I expect many not to believe what I write or think I am talking cobblers, your choice really.
OK lets look at the PL Stats first and remembering Stan is a defensive midfielder
TACKLES
He made 143 tackles last season with a success rate of 76%. This put in 5th in the the list of tacklers with the 2nd best % rate behind in both cases Mascherano.
FOULS
He is 46th in the the list conceding 46 fouls all season. For comparison Mascherano was 7th after conceding 67 fouls.
He won a total of 84 fouls last season putting him third just behind Kevin Davies and Steven Pienaar
PASSING
Made 1412 passes putting him 28 in the list. Milner made more passes at 1514. Of these passes 1140 were successful putting him 22nd, Milner was even lower at 1084
YELLOW CARDS
Stan was top with 11 along with Muamba
So what do these stats say. To me it shows in the tackling area he is very effective and does the job of a defensive midfielder. Somehow he does get given a lot of yellows but more for petulance I think as I can barely remember a bad tackle. Passing wise is possibly the area with an average success rate but Milner’s was worse, this suggest to me more of a problem with the team’s ability to create space. What it does not show is the constant cry we hear of easy passes backwards or sidewards or otherwise it would be an higher success rate.
Sky LINK for Stats
Telegraph LINK for Stats
So to address some of the other complaints about Stan
- he tires out after 70 minutes – this is purely a personal standpoint and yes would agree not as early as the 70th minute but later he can. However could this because Milner is very offensive and Stan has to cover a lot of the ground, makes the case for a 4-3-3 more compelling
- not a leader – well watch him on the pitch, he commands the respect of all around him, surely he would not be captain after all. He is the captain of Club and Country, you do not get those positions unless by accident
- does not create or score enough - does he need to, that is not his position
Finally this post from ‘chads’ on VT if true sums up why Petrov within the Villa ranks IS appreciated and why if true Roy Hodgson (whose stock has never been higher) may actually rate him higher than ourselves.
let me give you the point of view of a villa player…yes player, who sees, trains and plays with him day in and day out:
when some friends of mine met fabian delph in a birmingham nightclub (last season before he got injured) one of them them told him he should be playing instead of petrov because petrov is shit etc, and started talking all the bollox some people on here who also dont know what they’re talking about usually come out with…slow, doesn’t score enough etc..
Delph ordered him to get down and give him 20 press ups because it was such a ridiculous comment. delph said that petrov was ‘the best player at the club’, and we would be nowhere without him and his midfield calm and control. he went on and on apparently and i wasnt there so cant convey his whole argument but this is a young and exciting footballer trying to takemake a name for himslef in petrov’s position so surely his opinion is worth its weight in gold in this argument? case closed?
SPECULATION : Petrov for Liverpool, Young wants payoff and Carew to Besiktas
Well I never expected this from the Mirror but they are saying that Liverpool want Stillyan Petrov as replacement for Mascherano.
The cost is rumoured to be £7m and story is by Alan Nixon (Nicko) who some say has decent contacts. Of all the links I have seen this has got to the wildest of them all.
Mirror also reports that Luke Young’s move is being held up as he wants a pay off from Villa for accepting reduced wages at Liverpool
The Mail have linked Carew back to one of his former clubs Besiktas where he spent a decent season, anyone left to be linked to go ?
Has there been a power shift at Villa
The following comments are from the BBC report on Milner talks having been stalled
“I think the owner [Randy Lerner] puts a price on players. Of course, he will have an idea on the price,” explained O’Neill.
“Negotiations are being conducted by the Villa chief executive [Paul Faulkner] and the owner and I will be guided by them.”
It has generally been thought that MON is in charge of everything regarding the playing side at Villa ,these comments suggest the financial side has moved to Paul Faulkner the CEO. Actually for many people this is good news as it allows MON to concentrate with team and set the parameters for which Faulkner can do any possible deal.
We are aware Randy and MON had a meeting at the end of last season and it does seem some items were agreed then which has had an effect on current transfer dealings
- High wage earners in the squad but who do not play have to be released to free up the wage bill
- The CEO takes over the money side of any financial discussions
- That we have fixed prices for any players others may want and no matter how much we need the money for other players we will stick to it
With the comments some have suggested that MON sounds resigned, I disagree, it sounds like they have come to a mutually agreeable relationship.
If not then knowing the record of MON would he not walk ?
McGeady not starting for Celtic – is he Villa bound – SSN says so, BBC says back injury
Whilst it is not clear that playing in tonight’s CL qualifier against Braga would make McGeady ineligible for Villa in the Europa Cup he has been left out of the starting line up tonight. He has travelled but not even named as sub so he will be off, Spartak got to be favourites you would think.
Johnjohn2 on VT has posted
Lots of rumours rom the Celtic fans that McGeady is going to Villa for 8mp + Heskey.
but not seen anything on their forums
Would add of course he has travelled, not injured but not playing and just which other team is in Portugal tonight ?
Jackso55 says on VT
Just heard on Sky sports news via the commentator on the Celtic vs Braga update that Mcgeady has been left out of the squad for the tonights game, with very strong rumours coming out that he is about to sign for villa in the next few days. I AM NOT ITK, Just passing on the info that I heard, it was at about 9.05pm.
BBC now reporting a back injury
Milner at the airport, Confirmed Liverpool bid for Luke Young accepted – £2.5m
The Trees on Villatalk has took a photo of Milner at Birmingham Airport, looking fairly relaxed and obviously bound for Portugal, could it be he stays as no sign Man City will up bid.
Radio 5 have said that Liverpool have confirmed a £2.5m bid for Luke Young has been accepted and awaiting confirmation he agrees to personal terms.
Not sure when it was obvious last night we had accepted a bid from Liverpool we did not announce it.
Some more ITK – Dickson Etutu
Some more In the Know stuff today will update as we go on today, these remember should just be taken for what they are. Most will prove to be BS.
From Dante_Lockhart on Villatalk
My mate of a mate of a mucker says we’re currently in talks with Fulham for Dickson Etuhu with the possibility of cash + Sidders. Just waiting on the managerial position to be sorted first.
Bleating over the Kit
It seems on the Villa boards all you hear at the moment is whining and moaning. I am not saying people do not have the right to be unhappy but many people and I know many are not kids are not looking at the bigger picture and the situation we are in.
The typical example of this is the moaning over the late kit release date. I have had a think about the situation from Villa’s point of view.
What if the delay was caused by the late negotiations over the FxPro sponsorship, this was much more difficult than anyone could imagine and ran very close to the deadline for any shirt to be made?
It’s more likely just the time it takes to add a sponsor logo when the deal was only agreed a short while ago.
Think about the size of Nike and the factory capacity and planning procedures they have. Who gets made first (ie. Man Utd or Barcelona) shouldn’t really be an issue and that’s why I’d be surprised if that was the case.
This kit was probably designed some time ago. Even with all the kits Nike make that sort of timeframe should be fine.
If we were with a smaller company then the signing of a late sponsor might have had even more of an impact.
There is the example of Fulham with Kappa but realistically their print run should be much smaller and the initial deliveries may be very small.
Villa are not blameless in the lack of clarification over the delay which left a vacuum in which people can moan and maybe a small amount could be put on sale early, but the hysterics on some forums are simply OTT.
ITK information – Heskey to Sunderland
On H&V ‘haway the lads’ just posted this
Alright lads? Not quite sure if this is the correct place to ask or not because i’m not a regular over here but strong rumours are coming out of portugal (where sunderland are based for pre-season) suggesting that Heskey is en-route to the stadium of light. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with the sunderland messageboards but the SMB are now carrying the rumours. Getting slightly nervous now. Especially as it appears that a loan move for Danny Welbeck has fallen through and Jones looking very unsettled yet again. Any news or anything fellas?
On the Sunderland Message board ‘Ready to Go’ there is this thread where they have said Heskey has said his goodbyes to the Villa squad
I did post rumours recently that Heskey was heading to Blackburn but Sunderland does make sense on many levels given Bruce worked with him at Blues and Wigan.
Now of course this places doubt over the future of Kenwyne Jones but can see a Liverpool Link for him not Villa.
CONFIRMED : Bid accepted for Luke Young
On the OS MON has confirmed a bid has been received for Luke Young and it appears that it has been accepted as Luke is mulling over the personal offer. whilst it does not say we have officially accepted the bid, you do not allow a player to speak to another club unless you are happy with a bid.
All but done except for the formalities.
O’Neill also confirmed the club have received an offer from an unnamed club for full-back Luke Young.
The former Tottenham, Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough defender is currently mulling over the offer.
Should he reject the move, he will join up with Villa for the Guadiana Cup.
“There has been an offer from a football club, which Luke is mulling over and if it doesn’t materialize then he would also join us [in Portugal] because he needs to play some football soon,” said O’Neill. “We will see how that develops.”
The press, Guardian and Mirror indicating the unnamed club is Liverpool with a £2,75m offer, so at long last things appear to be moving.
He commented on Milner but not earth shattering news !
Weimann shines as the reserves beat Walsall
MON tonight sent out a young reserve side to Walsall as Villa came away with a 2-1 victory at the Bescott cheered on by 3000 Villans in a crowd of 5,700, way above Walsall’s league average.
Andreas Weimann who is very highly rated by a lot of Villa reserve watchers and said by a coach to be the Austrian Alan Shrearer. He cam up with two typical peices of goal poaching to seal the friendly win. The first goal was set up by a storming run by Carew and the second from a parried cross by Albrighton. In truth Weimann should have had a hat trick but hit the post from a yard.
All three of the exciting youth prospects were heavily involved all game and Albrighton is now making a very strong claim to start against West Ham with Weimann and Bannan on the bench with of course the Fonz to come back in. MON has to be brave and buy no player who would block these exciting and very talented youngsters.
A word for Carew in these pre season games, he has started well and lasted well, his back injury appears not to be troubling him and I hope he can just keep it up, time will tell.
Fonz rises to the challenge
In today’s U21 semi final England were thoroughly outplayed in a 3-1 defeat against Spain.
For the Villa lads, Baker was taken of early with an hamstring injury but the Fonz impressed everyone today against an excellent young Spanish side who look set to dominate for decades.
During the tournament even though the Fonz has failed to score he has looked the class of the England U19 side, Nouble despite getting goals as looked a lumbering oaf similar to Shrek ! His touch when getting the ball, his turns and clever movement indicates the quality of the guy and if only he had been sharper up front he could and should have 4/5 goals.
Weimann had a quiet tournament with Austria but we know he could be quality and for Fonz it is time to give him some proper starts, for example he should start every single cup game this season. Weimann for me should be on the bench for most games, he has the handy knack of coring goals !
Time for brave decisions from MON, get rid of Heskey bring in Keane and leave the kids as 4/5th choices a risk because we know Carew will get injured, but could pay off handsomely.
FULL TIME : Walsall 1 vs Villa 2 – Weimann (2)
As reported on the Mail’s website, Sidwell is in the squad for fitness reasons but apart from the obvious exclusion of Milner should be a fairly strong team
KO 19:45
Interesting team news
Friedel,
Beye, Collins, Davies, Shorey,
Albrighton, Reo-Coker, Sidwell, Bannan,
Carew, Weimann.
Subs: Lowry, Clark, Lichaj, Parish, Hogg, Salifou, Cuellar.
Clearly a semi reserve side with just two what you call first team starters
Very good to see Weimann start after a disappointing Under 19 tournament and Albrighton starts yet again, he must be a real chance to start the season
================
Game kicked off late at 19:51
Bad news already as three minutes James Collins is replaced by Carlos Cuellar still carrying an injury
Villa have started reasonably well, playing 4-4-2
The reserves have created some chances, Carew missed a couple
25 mins – End to end game, Albrighton and Bannan doing well, Villa filled nearly two sides at the Bescott.
26 mins – Good Carew run sets up wunder kid Weimann to nod home, the Austrian Shearer !
Albrighton, Weimann, Bannan playing really well, got to pushing for PL starts sooner or later
HALF TIME and satisfactory outing and Carew and the kids have impressed with their drive and energy, the quality of these kids should not be under estimated by any Villa fan as often happens.
20:53 – 2nd HALF kicks off, Lichaj and Lowry on, Beye and Shorey off, now the reserve side
started off the half and once again Albrighton at the thick of things
18 mins and after further pressure and woodwork hit at both ends Villa score, Albrighton’s cross is parried by the keeper and the Austrian Shearer poaches another one
Subs – Davies and NRC replaced by Clark and Salifou
Subs – Albrighton and Freidel off, Hogg and Parish on
28 mins – Nicholls scores for Walsall
Some late Walsall pressure
FULL TIME and a useful workout for some of the squad players and kids and Albrighton, Weimann and Bannan have done themselves the power of good
ITK information on Milner, Ireland, Luke Young and Carlton Cole
Always the same provsio, caution, this is only information being posted and not to be taken as the literal truth !
Some sites have dropped their ITK thread, not sure why, always great fun !
From ‘MYSTERYMAN’ on VT
On Ireland -
We are in pole position
When asked if part of the Milner deal -
Seperate deal and it’s not likely to happen anytime soon unless someone else nips in and forces our hand . Don’t believe all this we got to sell Milner either for it to happen they were looking at him before Milner became an issue .
If Ireland is happy to come –
From the City end not Villa’s apparently yes but then again they told me that the deal for Milner was done at 28 mill and clearly isn’t . Also Onura ( Spelling shocking ) is interested in coming again from the City end .
From ‘Michael Porter’ on this blog regarding information a deal would be done today
I can confirm the only thing holding the deal up now is Irelands reluctance to join Villa. Mancini has re contacted O’Neill to re adjust the bid to include Shaun Wright Phillips – but O’Neill is playing hard ball & wants Ireland ! Contrary to reports yesterday, the meeting with Milner and his lagal team did not go well & he’s insistent on leaving Villa. There are 4 to 5 deals being held up due to the Milner saga. one is a huge deal for a striker.
I will post more as and when I receive the information – if requested !
On H&V – Dave Woodhall
Heard Liverpool have bid for Luke Young
From ‘Dexterblue’ on bluemoon
I was at a golf pro am a couple of weeks ago in Limerick and Martin O’Neill was there…I asked him if Villa were going to buy Ireland…We had a bit of a laugh about the number of grandmother he has and asked me if I was related to him!!! But before he left he got serious and said he thought he was an excellent player. I took it that thinks a lot of him as a player but would not be bidding.
Finally ‘Smetrov’ on VT has said
A friend of mine who knows a physio at villa – reckons we are prepared to pay £16m for Carlton Cole
Make of that what you will, but remeber this is real life and not FM, things are never that simple, with MON certainly not !
SPECULATION : A NEW link WOW, this time SWP, Milner £30m or no deal and also Ireland told he can leave
Yes I am so very excited that the Mirror (woah, hold on there) have linked us to a relatively new name, yes this time Shaun Wright-Phillips, the inconsistent out of favour Man City winger.
They claim a deal could be done as he looks favourably on a move to Villa as a makeweight for Milner.
Lets hope not, he is the least impressive of any winger option we have
And still 5 more weeks to go of this nonsense !
The Sun reports that Villa will hold firm to not accepting anything less than £30m for Milner
Thanks to a poster (‘reality’) on Villatalk he has linked a story from the Times (behind paywall)
Stephen Ireland told he’s unlikely to be included in #MCFC 25-man squad next season and can leave the club
In other words there are offers for him, PLEASE let it be us
SPECULATION : McGeady in talks with Spartak Moscow
I missed this one from earlier and others it seems as well.
Hattip : villatalk
The Mirror reporting that Celtic have allowed Spartak Moscow to speak to Aiden McGeady for a £9m transfer after being told no other club has firmed up their interest. According to them we have not firmed up our interest.
This I think will please many Villa fans and whist I think McGeady has potential I would hate for Albrighton to be blocked now. go as far to say we do not need a right winger in Albrighton we have one ready to go !
What Man City fans think of Milner
I do like the Man city Bluemoon forum and on their Milner thread we see the following comments and I have tried to pick out a fair selection. To be honest the response is mixed about him which for me shows just how under appreciated as a player he is.
RICHARDS30
think milner is gonna be a brilliant signing to be honest!!!! is more talented than people give him credit for.
MONKFISH
Are any of you saying what a pointless signing Milner would be aware of a complete lack of energy in our midfield last season – and also aware of the energy Milner provided for Villa? If Milner was a City player last season I think we would have strolled 4th and possibly pushed Arsenal for 3rd.
LEE-MCFC
fingers crossed he stays at villa
AUSSIE!
This statement, makes me (as a City fan) nervous because it implies Milner will be going to City. (Similiar situation)Much like the Lescott scenario where he was excluded from training before we signed him.
The last thing i want is for that overrated – overppriced prick to come.
In reply – FANTASYIRELAND
Regardless of whether you rate him as a player,and,for the record,he is a very good one who will improve our team immensely,what right have you to call him a prick.
As ever Milner has acted in a dignified manner throughout this saga,he is a superb example of how a footballer should live their life.
Your well out of order here mate.
LARDERLAND
if we go over 24 mil il be extremely embarressed,and thats coming from someone who really wanst him here
CELEBRITY KILLER
That’s precisely the point, there must be a plan B or C instead of this guy. I understand the need for this type of player… but let’s not turn it in a obsessed Hughes-type transfer. If they won’t take 24m walk away… look at other options… let the player force the transfer through if need be – 24m should be enough to make it happen.
SPECULATION : Bid of £24m for Milner (rejected – SSN)
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
Young and Milner no go for Spurs
If anyone really believed the reports over the past few days then Redknapp was looking at buying Young and Milner.
Well this article from Sky with actual quotes puts paid to that.
Asked about Milner, Redknapp told Sky Sports News: “No, we wouldn’t be able to.
“Anybody would like James Milner, he’s an outstanding young player, but he’d be way out of our depth.”
On Young, Redknapp added: “Again, I wouldn’t think they’d want to sell Ashley Young.
“He is a good player but he belongs to Villa. We’ve not made any enquiries for him at all.
I think for once we can take ‘Arry’s word on this and in the case of Young then everyone should breathe easier (including MON) he is going nowhere.
Just does not help at this time that the fans are being told by the press and in many ways by MON that we have to ‘sell to buy’ a new player at this stage is what we need.
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