Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
James Milner’s Villa exit hits block
Friday 13th August 2010, 11:30AM BST.
Villa star James Milner’s £26million move has been held up as makeweight Stephen Ireland’s wrangle with Manchester City over a £2million pay-off continues.
City boss Roberto Mancini today admitted it may be another two or three days before the situation is concluded, and Milner has been named in Villa’s squad to play West Ham tomorrow.
A fee of £18million plus Ireland has been agreed between the clubs, but there are fears the deal could collapse with the City midfielder, who signed a lucrative new five-year contract only last year, refusing to agree to leave Eastlands unless they give in to his demands.
Despite their bottomless pit of cash, mega-rich City are unwilling to budge, leaving the transfer hanging in the balance despite both players having agreed personal terms with their proposed new clubs.
Ireland, 23, has fallen out of favour since Roberto Mancini’s arrival at Eastlands last season, with the player reportedly “disillusioned” by the way he has been treated.
City have been eager to sign Milner ever since tabling their first bid of £20million for Villa’s joint-club record £12million signing in May.
Now, almost three months on, they are still likely to get their man, but their desperation to land the England star could mean they are the first to ‘blink’ in the stand-off.
Talks are set to continue between City officials and Ireland’s agent Paul Masterton over the weekend, but Milner could be included in the Villa team for the curtain-raiser against the Hammers – if the player is deemed to be in the right frame of mind.
The decision will be left to caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald, who will take charge of Villa following manager Martin O’Neill’s shock resignation on Monday.
Villa are still believed to be putting a short-list of candidates together, with owner Randy Lerner ready to take his time to find the right candidate.
Sponsored Links
UK Sport
Latest Blog — Microsoft Comes to the University of Wolverhampton
Last week Microsoft visited the University of Wolverhampton to give students the chance to develop their own phone apps that could be published on the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Technology blog
Business Awards
Read the full story here
Full coverage of awards celebrating the region's best businesses.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Express & Star and Shropshire Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
LIVE traffic updates
Road, rail and airport - latest
Our new, live traffic and travel updates service - check before you set out.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new E&S app
Download the Express & Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
expressandstar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
