Villa reject City's £20 million bid for Milner

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Aston Villa have turned down Manchester City's £20m bid for their England international James Milner.

"We have received an offer from Manchester City for James Milner and this has been firmly rejected," said a Villa spokesman late on Wednesday.

"We plan to sit down with James and his representative after the World Cup to agree a new long-term deal and this remains our position."

The 24-year-old midfielder was recently named PFA Young Player of the Year.

Leeds-born Milner, who joined Villa from Newcastle for £12m in 2008, is halfway through a four-year deal. He is currently with Fabio Capello's initial 30-man England squad at their training camp near Salzburg, Austria.

Villa owner Randy Lerner said last week the club will do "everything" in their power to ensure Milner stays.

Chelsea and Manchester United have also been linked with Milner, though United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has talked of this summer's transfer market as being "very difficult".

Villa have secured Europa League football for next season having finished sixth in the Premier League and will not want to lose another influential midfielder to City following the departure of Gareth Barry for £12m last season.

City, funded by the deep pockets of Abu Dhabi-based owner Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, are close to signing Germany international defender Jerome Boateng from Hamburg for £11m.

More signings are expected as City push for a coveted Champions League spot having just missed out to Tottenham this season.

Milner has been in a rich vein of form this season, helping Villa finish sixth in the Premier League and reach Wembley twice for the Carling Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals, since O'Neill switched him from wide midfield to a more central position.

He has also become a regular in the England squad under Capello, and is widely tipped to be part of the final 23-man squad for the World Cup in South Africa starting on 11 June.

Earlier this year, Capello described Milner as England's "most-improved" player, adding: "James Milner is a fantastic player. He is intelligent on the pitch. He passes the ball well. He creates goals and scores himself.

"He is a lot like Frank Lampard, younger, but with great energy."

In June 2009, another high-profile English midfielder, Gareth Barry, made the move from Villa to City, in a five-year deal that netted the west Midlands club £12m.

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[cfc-meleady 192]

United planning to bid even more than that, nice to see them getting ripped off

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Like I predicted, Man City will go for plays with good qualities like Barry and Lescott but offer money that is more in the range of the best players in the world.

[We Hate Scouse 10,287]

Apparently United are going to bit £28 million for him! Hahahaha

The most I'd pay for him is £10 million, he is no where near worth that amount!

[Badboy 1,526]

He is a good player but man city have gone over the top with the bid they have placed. For 20 million i would want a player just under world class standard like david silva. Man city have this endless pocket of money which is even beyond what we had when roman arrived.

[northernblue 2]

I agree they are spending Champions League player money on non-Champions League standard players, but when you have unlimited funds, does it really matter?