Aston Villa players unaffected by James Milner transfer saga
Aston Villa players are refusing to let the ongoing transfer saga surrounding midfield talisman James Milner distract them during their pre-season preparations.
Milner will resume training at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath headquarters with his future still undecided on Monday after taking an extended break following World Cup duty.
Manchester City had their opening £20 million offer for Milner rejected out of hand by Villa last month and are expected to return with an improved bid before the new season kicks off.
Milner was unable to give assurances that he would sign a bumper new contract at Villa when he met with manager Martin O’Neill, chairman Randy Lerner and chief executive Paul Faulkner before the World Cup.
On England duty, the former Leeds United and Newcastle United winger was equally non-committal when asked about where he would be playing his football next season.
However, O’Neill’s players are refusing to pay much attention to the proposed transfer or to become too concerned over the possibility of losing the influential midfielder to a rival club this summer.
Goalkeeper Brad Friedel has every confidence in the manager to recruit a replacement if Villa eventually decide to cash in on the England star.
“If someone does go, and someone does come in, you can count on the fact that a good player will have left and a good player will have come in,” said Friedel.
“We can’t dictate who comes and we can’t dictate who goes.
“I don’t pay very much attention at all to speculation.
“As a player I turn up, I do my work, I go home and then I switch my phone off.
“Each player is going to try and get themselves as fit as possible and in the right physical and mental shape.
“What happens in the transfer market has nothing to do with us as players.”
Stewart Downing reckons Milner will already have made up his mind about whether he fancies a big-money switch to Eastlands.
But Downing has warned Milner that he would not necessarily be guaranteed a starting role in Roberto Mancini’s team.
“It will be interesting to see what XI Mancini starts with because he’s got that much quality in that squad,” said Downing.
“They’re all going to be fighting for places. It’s going to be hard and it will be hard for James if he goes there.
“Will he play? I can’t think how many midfielders they’ve got.
“I think that will be one of the decisions: ‘Do I want to go there and be a bit-part or stay here and play?’
“That’s totally up to him. I am sure he’s probably already made his decision.”
