Villa boss Martin O’Neill insists there has been no hitch in contract talks with Ashley Young.
Young still has almost three years remaining on his existing deal but O’Neill is eager to extend his stay even further, with the lure of a vastly improved contract.
Fellow key forward players like Gabby Agbonlahor and John Carew have agreed new deals but the £9.65million arrival from Watford is yet to put pen to paper.
O’Neill did confirm ‘positive’ talks had taken place and he remains confident the England international will commit.
The Villa manager said: “We have been in discussions. It’s not taking an inordinate amount of time, it’s only because it’s a matter of us getting together. Obviously we want to extend his contract and put him where we think he belongs.”
Another player on O’Neill’s contract hit list after impressing sufficiently is midfielder Isaiah Osbourne.
O’Neill said: “He has until the end of the season but we will be extending that. This season he has got strong, his attitude has been very positive and I want him to stay around. He is feeling pretty good about things so we want to extend that.”
The Villa boss also confirmed he is yet to open talks with Stiliyan Petrov over the Bulgarian extending his stay.
He said: “I haven’t spoken to Stiliyan or agent about anything but all I will say is this is the best he has ever played. He’s consistently playing well and I am so pleased for him.”
2 Comments
The longer he holds out on signing a new contract, the more I feel he could be testing the water to find out if there is any interest from a bigger club.
1. You could be right, but he’s happy at Villa, I think his agent is probably trying to get the best deal that he can, lining his own pockets at the same time of course.