Ashley Young to stay at Aston Villa & Liverpool looking to sign West Ham United’s Carlton Cole
One of England’s most promising players, Ashley Young, is believed to have finally made a decision to stay at Aston Villa.
The winger was long speculated to move away from Villa Park. The transfer of Young and James Milner were believed to be crucial reasons behind the departure of manager Martin O’Neill. Young and his advisors held a meeting with the Club’s board and C.E.O. Paul Faulkner and discussed the matter in detail.
Ashley Young has been on the shopping list of Tottenham Hotspur, and was believed to be well on his way to London earlier this week. However, a turn of events has seen new developments according to which he may, after all, be staying at the club. According to the advisors of the player, they had healthy discussions with the club officials and he has decided to stay. Harry Redknapp, the manager of Tottenham, has long been praising the Villa player and has wanted to bring him to White Hart Lane.
However, after the meeting, Villa have made it clear that the player is not for sale, and the financial demands of the player at Tottenham is also believed to be a reason for the breakdown of talks.
Tottenham had been trying to sign Young for a while, but his wage demands were believed to be more than the salary cap at Spurs. Club chairman Daniel Levy is believed to be reluctant towards changing his policy.
Ashley Young was part of England’s team that won a friendly against Hungary 2-1; he has almost 20 months left on his contract with Aston Villa, and is expected to finally make a switch during the next transfer window.
Meanwhile, Liverpool is believed to be in business with West Ham United for the services of front man Carlton Cole. According to a British newspaper ‘The Sun’, Liverpool have been trying to sign the English striker but he has been priced at 20 million pounds by the Hammers. The report says that West Ham United have expressed their desire to offload the striker but only if they are paid the right price. The London club, in a statement, said that if a right offer comes along, they would have no hesitations, but the deal has to be made within 10 days maximum. The club said that they would have to sign a replacement before the transfer window closes, so they would need time to find someone to fill in the void.
According to a statement by West Ham United, Liverpool would pay 15 million pounds upfront and 5 million would be paid later, according to the player’s appearances for Liverpool.
The club said that Cole is a capable striker and they would not let him go for cheap. The statement added that if a decent offer does not come along, West Ham may decide to hold on to him as they do not want to be left with insufficient funds to find a replacement.
The 26 year old front man has been impressive in front of the goal for the London based club. He scored 4 goals for West Ham United in 6 pre-season matches. Till now, Liverpool has not made any big money signings, and Roy Hodgson has made sure that the club does not spend an insane amount of money during a time when a big influx of cash is expected should the club takeover deal go through.
There are multiple business groups believed to be interested in buying the club, and so far the Hong Kong based business group (QSL Sports Ltd.) is believed to be the front runner to buy the Merseyside club.
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