ASTON VILLA could face further upheaval this summer after it emerged that Martin O’Neill has a battle on his hands to keep hold of Ashley Young as well as James Milner.
Young has caught the eye of several leading Premier League teams over the past two years, including Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool, as well as a number of top European clubs, and Villa may well find it difficult to persuade the England international to stay if interest crystallises into a formal offer.
The 25-year-old Young is happy at Villa but also fiercely ambitious and keen to regain his England place after missing out on the World Cup. With Milner set to join Manchester City provided Villa’s valuation is met, O’Neill will not want to contemplate the prospect of also losing Young in the same transfer window.
The former Watford winger remains one of the club’s most influential players, despite failing to reproduce the form last season that saw him win the PFA young player of the year award in 2009.
O’Neill has long regarded Young as integral to his plans and would almost certainly value him at more than double the €11 million Villa paid Watford two and a half years ago. Tottenham have considered making a move for Young in the past after monitoring his progress closely but felt that it would be impossible to prise him out of Villa Park while the two clubs were operating on an equal footing in the Premier League.
- Guardian Service
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)