Man Utd To Target Villa Midfielder?

Reports in the Sunday Mirror and repeated in the Sun today are claiming that Manchester United are preparing a bid for Aston Villa’s talented young midfielder Steven Davis

20-year-old Davis, who recently became Northern Ireland’s youngest ever captain, has been linked several times to Manchester United as Alex Ferguson continues his quest to find a replacement for former captain Roy Keane.

Davis played 34 games this season and came off the bench once. He scored four Premiership, 2 FA Cup and 2 Coca Cola Cup goals.

David O’Leary said recently ‘There is no way Davis would be a player we want to sell. There are loads you wouldn’t want to do that with and within that bunch you might have to bite the bullet and let one go to raise money. But he is not one of those. For that to happen it would have to be one taken out of my hands, an absolutely obscene offer money-wise.’

Adding

‘Steven has been the most consistent player this season and he would win my vote for player of the year. But I don’t buy into him being linked with other clubs.’

Taken out of the managers hands? Well, Doug has done that before and he will no doubt do that again.

The reports both suggest that Man Utd will test Aston Villa’s resolve to keep the player with a bid around £5million. If Doug sold one of two players (Gareth Barry being the other) that David O’Leary apparently says are not for sale, surely David O’Leary would be forced to walk? Almost worth the sacrifice… almost!

Ferguson is bound to have seen that Davis was one of a very few Villa players to shine during a dire season.

Our latest poll asks your opinion of our young midfielder. To me he looks like a fantastic prospect, exactly the sort of player that we should build the team around together with Gareth Barry, James Milner, Luke Moore and Milan Baros (with Gabriel Agbonlahor being introduced slowly into the mix as well).