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Luke Young’s Liverpool move in limbo
Thursday 29th July 2010, 11:00AM BST.
Luke Young’s Liverpool move looked in limbo today – as captain Stiliyan Petrov became the latest Villa player to be linked to Anfield.
Reds boss Roy Hodgson remained tight-lipped over any interest in Young, who has jetted out to Portugal with Villa for this weekend’s Guadiana Cup.
Villa have accepted a £2.5m offer from the Merseysiders for the out-of-favour right-back and it was left to the player to decide whether he wanted to leave.
O’Neill made it clear he is keen for Young to build up his fitness with the opening friendly of pre-season at Basingstoke his only taste of match action so far this summer.
Hodgson, meanwhile, would not be drawn on Young when questioned before the Reds’ Europa League qualifier against FK Rabotnick tonight.
At 31, Young is desperate for first-team opportunities, and he is aware Liverpool already have England’s World Cup defenders, Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher in his position.
But the former England international is also one of Villa’s higher earners, so agreeing terms with cash-strapped Liverpool could be another potential stumbling block in any deal.
As Young mulled over his move to Anfield, Petrov joined him as a potential Liverpool target.
Hodgson is seeking a replacement for Javier Mascherano, who wants to rejoin former boss Rafael Benitez at Inter Milan.
But unlike Young, whose relationship with O’Neill has been tested by his sparse opportunities, Petrov has always been a regular.
And Petrov today backed O’Neill to find the right replacement for James Milner should the midfielder leave for Manchester City.
“When Gareth (Barry) left we got ‘Milly’ in and he filled the gap straight away,” he said.
“As long as when we sell a good player we make sure we bring in another good one.”
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Is martin o’neill going to attempt to strengthen the squad or allow other clubs to come in and bid for whoever they like, luke young should not be sold as he is a good utility player.
the enquiry for petrov should be met with a firm NO!!
we cant afford to lose any useful players, reo-coker and others like him can go as they have never offered any benefit to the club.
Villa already have the look of a club that is creeping backwards instead of moving forwards, we are so lacking in most departments and god help us if we get a few early season injuries. i personally do not want to hear o’neill talking about the squad being small when he has not helped at all in the last 3 seasons when we have fell away in feb/march because of a lack of strength in depth.
get off your backside martin and do your job!!!
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Garry, sorry to pull you up old son, but you’ve unintentionally contradicted yourself in summing up Reo-Cokers contribution to the team.
The major problem with Villa for the past 2 seasons has been burnout, both over the winter period and during games. O’Neill has been the first to acknowledge this in post-match interviews (although not accepted from opposition centre halves). To me, this can be put down, in no small way, to O’Neills failure to play Reo-Coker on a regular basis or even bringing him off the bench when Petrov tires as he does frequently. O’Neill didn’t buy Reo-Coker for his passing skills, his heading ability, his finesse, or his shooting skills! He brought him because he is a destroyer who runs for 90 minutes for the team hence being made captain on a number of occaisions.
Sorry mate, but for me, Reo-Coker would be one of, if not, the first name on the team sheet. And if you’re gonna criticise players, look no further than Petrov. He’s a smashing guy and a decent player, but were it not for the fact that he is team captain, I don’t think he would warrant a place in Villa’s strongest 11, at least not at the expense of Reo-Coker.
Ask any Villa fan who should be captain and I guarantee that 95%+ would say Dunne because he is the one player who merits inclusion in every game. Sadly, the same cannot be said about Petrov!
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Totally agree with “the Bilston villan”.
Rotate the squad more .
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Ref comment 2: Bilston villain. dont agree with you about reo-coker, just dont like the guy but thats what these boards are here for,everyones opinion is as valid as the next man, if we all agreed it wouldn’t half be a boring world.
you are bang on about the captaincy, it needs to be richard dunne.
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NRC deserves to be in the side. Villa fans always chant his name even when he is on the bench. He has been treated appallingly, almost to the point of humiliation, and I fully understood his frustration with MON.
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Garry : Respect!
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