The Milner Novela... Final episode page 296

[ozzjim]

If City have already told Milner via an agent or two that he could get 150k a week there, his head will have been turned. It is phenomenal money, and were it us in our jobs we would jump ship.

IF that is the case, for Villa it is a unique opportunity to get as much as we can for a player that is very very good, but is IMO replaceable as a central midfielder. I would want Ireland as a minimum of any deal, and Bellamy would do our forward line some good too. ANd a shed load of cash. As it is City, we can push the limit to as much as we can think, and if they don't offer it we keep the player.

[TimTheVillain]

Exactly right.

We are in the driving seat.

Bellamy, Ireland and SWP for me - plus £10 million.....that would be my returned fax.

Plus - have they got a decent right back ???

If we are to sell, and it appears lkely to me, we just have to leverage some grace out of this.

[wookster]

Much is made of Milner's integrity and him not being money driven, but he's going to spend the next six weeks living cheek-by-jowl with players earning significantly more than him and who play regular Champion's League football.  He'll end up feeling the "poor" relation and that might start him thinking..

He already lives cheek-by-jowl with players who drink, have questionable attitudes and earphones bigger than dustbin lids but he doesn't follow their lead. None of us know what Milner wants, although we do know he's ambitious. Maybe he'd want to see what we can offer him after the world cup before he starts being swayed by those around him? I'd hope that he knows he can do better than Man City.

I thought he still lives with his mum in Leeds.  Thats a pretty good way to keep you grounded, no ego.

[phantom limb]

If City have already told Milner via an agent or two that he could get 150k a week there, his head will have been turned. It is phenomenal money, and were it us in our jobs we would jump ship.

Don't know about that, money isn't everything, and there are sparse examples that show that not every footballer is motivated purely by money. I could be wrong but I'm sure Lucarelli plays for Livorno for free, stating that he'd already made enough money from football.

If we do sell Milner I think we should be looking at players like Moutinho from Sporting, not Man City's cast-offs who are all undoubtably on stupid wages that we won't be able to match anyway.

Bellamy - in his 30's, injured all the time
Ireland - did bugger all last season
SWP - utter shite and wants a massive pay rise from whoever signs him
Richards - fat knacker. If you want to see players running out of steam in matches he epitomises it and wouldn't help us solve that problem at all

[Rip Van We Go Again]

£20m + Ireland and Bellamy.
Then we can start talking.

It's going to happen, so we might as well all accept it.

[nick harper]

And so it begins.

So long James.

Very true. The most depressing thing about all this is the weeks and weeks of will he won't he we have to put up with.

The key will be whether Milner agrees to a  new contract when he returns but that isn't going to be resolved quickly. My big fear is the we end up being in the same position as Everton last year - fighting to keep a player that ultimately destabilises the pre season and leaves little or no time to reinforce the squad properly by the end of the transfer window..

[Rudy Can't Fail]

If City have already told Milner via an agent or two that he could get 150k a week there, his head will have been turned. It is phenomenal money, and were it us in our jobs we would jump ship.

My understanding is it's more about satisfying the greed of the agent who has been driving this from the off.

[john e]

i know i'm in a minority of one here
 but i think Milners good but he aint all that.

dont want to see him go, but if we can replace him with a bit of creative quality it wont be all bad.

No, I am with you as well. Good player, sometimes very good but over-hyped in my opinion. I don't want him to go either but I will stick my neck out and say he will not propel Man City to where they want to be...

put it this way, if we had never bought Milner, and had the same squad as now,
i wouldnt be rushing out paying 25mill for him,
 i dont think he's in that bracket, he's a great team player, workhorse and heart of the side as others have said,

in our side he stands out because the team is greater than the collective individuals, of which none our English international quality appart from Millner.

like i said i would want him to stay, i like him, but in my view Barry was the greater loss [age aside]
we need some quality midfield players with the ability to keep possesion and create chances, like Modric, Arteta etc

i have no faith that MON will go and buy this type of player so it is a bit disheartning all the same

[tarzansbrother]

ONeill stopping will mean Milner will stop aswell. Expect a new 3 year deal to be agreed. I would rather have clubs bidding for our players as this will indicate how well they have played for Villa. Keeping Barry like we did when Liverpool were bidding has shown clubs and our players we wont be pushed around. Will be very interesting to see what Fabregas goes for if he moves.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I thing Milner has the potential to be anything he wants to be. Being surrounded by better players is going to help, as will the tactics but there's nothing stopping him becoming a Steven Gerrard type player (without the cheating, obviously).

What we need to do is to stop having one star player and instead have a few. We had Barry, now we have James. Keeping Milner would go a long way with that plan.

[Nev]

Bellamy is utter poison. How anybody would want him is staggering.

As the food chain has started, and as much as we can squeal, Milner could well depart.

No Man City cast offs, just cash and fuckin' lots of it.

You pay 40 mill or fuck off, and if Milner starts crabbing, stick him on the stiffs for the rest of his contract. It will make the players and clubs think twice about bullying those with less wealth.

[Chris Harte]

What about a straight swap? Milner in exchange for Bellamy, Ireland and Barry?

[charleeco7]

If he does go you do have to think what's the point? All that effort in improving a player and building a squad just for them to be sold as soon as we start seeing the benefit. Especially when they go to one of our closest rivals, in terms of league position.  

I know it's not the first time it's happened but at least with yorke, platt and Barry we had a good few years out of them before hand.

The more I think about it the more the whole situation makes me even more disillusioned with the modern game.

[pmk1981]

villa can name their price.  everton did and man city paid 24 million for lescott for gods sake.
Not that i want milner to go but if man city offered £25 million + ireland + adebyor or wright phillips, i would be tempted to say maybe ??

[tarzansbrother]

£24m for Lescott really was an outrageous transfer fee. What did Man C originally offer? On this basis Milner has to be close to £30m