Villa – O’Leary Wants Milner

So, rumours suggesting David O’Leary might be parting waves with Aston Villa might be wide of the mark, especially with the manager putting more pressure on the board saying he wants to ‘build my team’ around on loan winger James Milner.

Reports suggest Milner would cost Villa £3million, although the rumbles from St James Park have been that he isn’t for sale, so I’m not sure where that figure has come from.

Maybe that was why David O’Leary was once again saluting Doug Ellis yesterday following the derby win. I’d have preferred to see him salute the fans, but hey ho, you pays your money, you makes your choice.

O’Leary said of 20-year-old Milner: ‘James Milner’s absolutely flying and it’s a fantastic boost. He comes into my thoughts big style.I hope we can bring him here. This is another young player who I want to build a team around. He epitomises all I want to do here. He’s a never say die, play-on-one-leg type like Gavin McCann. That’s the hunger and desire you want.’

Milner looked shattered after giving it his all yesterday. He had declared himself fit despite not being fully recovered from an enlarged spleen that has kept him out for the last few weeks. His energy was certainly missed when he wasn’t in the team.