Milner future still in doubt
The future of James Milner is still in doubt after the player failed to take part in a friendly against Benfica.
Milner travelled to Portugal with the rest of the Aston Villa squad but did not play any part in the 4-1 loss owing to back spasms. There have been rumours all summer long linking the midfield player with a move to Manchester City.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill could not confirm or deny Milner's departure from the club but said it would be nonsensical if the club said they did not want him to stay on for the new Premier League season.
It's vital that this matter is sorted out sooner rather than later so all parties concerned can move on. Milner has to come out publicly and state his intentions ahead of the new season in case Villa need to get a new player in through the door.
Deal with it quickly
Both Milner and Aston Villa have to deal with this issue quickly because it has rumbled on for far too long. The fact that there has been no official notice or statement from either party suggests that Aston Villa are waiting for Manchester City to up their bid for the player.
Milner did not play against Benfica because of injury and this makes his decision to travel with the rest of the squad all the more puzzling. City will be hoping that the player can sort his fitness out ahead of the new Premier League season as news stories now suggest it's a matter of time and a case of figures before the transfer takes place.
The risks of a player sitting on the bench at a club and waiting for a move are high. Other players in the Villa team will not like any negative feeling and they may grow resentful towards Milner if he starts to sulk over the time the deal is taking to complete.
O'Neill said: "I only had a brief conversation with Paul [Faulkner, chief executive] today, and it was the briefest of briefs. I don't think there's any more news to tell. I don't really know. I don't think at this stage I would be in a position to give you a definitive answer. Naturally I've said before that, almost everyone to a man, would want James to stay at the football club."
Work cut out
The reason why any delay in the move is so worrying is because it is going to severely limit Villa's chances of finding a high quality replacement who can come in and have a similar effect to Milner.
Even if the player stays at Villa it seems that a move either in January or next summer is now certain. With a month left of the summer transfer window Villa still have time to find another player, but someone on either side needs to take some responsibility and sort this issue out.
O'Neill added: "It is a problem really because we have been unable to get it sorted out for these couple of days. He had some back spasms, but he didn't have those when he arrived here, it was just in training the other day, so it was best not to have him involved."
Betting advice
If you can find any odds still on offer for Milner to join City then snap them up because the move is likely to happen and would have been dismissed by now if there was no truth in it. Any player Villa bring in will be under intense pressure to perform and they could be a candidate to score a few goals.
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