Manchester City to turn down Aston Villa approach for James Milner
Mike Whalley
June 27, 2011
Roberto Mancini will fight off Aston Villa's shock move to bring back midfielder James Milner.
Villa’s new boss Alex McLeish is weighing up an offer for the England international . . . just 10 months after he left the club for Eastlands in a £24m deal.
McLeish has made no secret of the fact that he wants a creative force to supply ammunition for main striker Darren Bent.
And Milner supplied that creativity week in, week out during two successful stints at Villa Park, firstly on a season’s loan from Newcastle in 2005/06, and then a two-year spell after making the permanent move in 2008.
City boss Mancini has stressed the need for a strong squad as he prepares to push for glory in the Premier League and Champions League next season – and sees Milner as a key part of that.
However, the 25-year-old knows he is likely to spend a significant chunk of next season on the bench for City.
He started only 23 of the Blues’ 38 Premier League games last term – and the normally level-headed midfield man lost his cool after being substituted during a 3-0 hammering at Liverpool in April, making no attempt to hide his annoyance as he walked to the bench.
Mancini has since described Milner as “an incredible midfielder”, and he featured in all of City’s final five Premier League games – starting three of them – as they secured a passage to the Champions League group stages by finishing third.
He was, though, only an unused substitute for the FA Cup semi-final win over United and the final victory over Stoke.
Meanwhile, Udinese’s outspoken owner Giampaolo Pozzo has urged City not to give up hope in their pursuit of Alexis Sanchez. Chelsea are now in the running and considering a £36m bid for the Chilean winger, who has made it clear that he wants to join Barcelona.
Barca’s unwillingness to go above £22m – well short of Udinese’s valuation of the player – has knocked his hopes of a quick move to the Nou Camp.
Pozzo remains keen to do business with City, and claims they are the favourites to sign the 22-year-old, who is preparing for Chile’s first Copa America game against Mexico in the Argentinian city of San Juan on July 4.
“If he was to leave, I would say that City have the highest probability of signing him,” Pozzo said.
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