apologies if already posted - this article in the times today:
Manchester City land James Milner as spree hits £100m
James Milner finally looks set to move to Manchester City after Aston Villa accepted a £27.5 million package in which Stephen Ireland would move in the opposite direction.
The England midfield player was pulled out of Villa’s friendly with Valencia last night as the Barclays Premier League clubs grew ever closer to a compromise deal. After a week of negotiations, City have agreed to pay a fee in excess of an initial £15 million that would rise to about £20 million once Milner achieves certain targets.
Although the deal could be slowed down because Milner is likely to be summoned to go away with England tomorrow night, in preparation for Wednesday’s friendly with Hungary, that would allow Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, time in which he can convince Ireland that his future lies at Villa Park and also do a deal to bring in Aiden McGeady as Milner’s replacement from Celtic.
“We are close with Milner,” Roberto Mancini, the City manager, who has spent about £75 million this summer, said last night. City’s signings include Yaya Touré, Aleksandar Kolarov, David Silva and Jérôme Boateng.
The wheels of the deal will move more swiftly if O’Neill can do his own part-exchange to entice McGeady from Celtic. The Glasgow club have accepted a £9.5 million bid from Spartak Moscow for the 24-year-old, but McGeady would prefer to join Villa.
Celtic would like to sign Nicky Shorey, who is surplus to requirements at Villa Park, and if they can persuade him to move to Scotland rather than West Bromwich Albion, O’Neill could offer Celtic £7.5 million plus Shorey for the winger he groomed in his time in charge at Celtic Park. Mancini is also hoping to secure the services of Mario Balotelli, the Inter Milan forward, before the transfer window closes, despite City’s offer of £25 million for the player being £5 million below Inter’s valuation.
“We are probably closer with Milner than with Balotelli,” Mancini said. “We are close, but we have time.”
