YOUNG will snub any Villa offer to join one of the 'Big 5'
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Bayern Munich join United, Liverpool and Spurs in the race to sign £12m Villa ace Young
In demand: Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool are all keen to land the England international
German giants Bayern Munich are set to join the summer race to sign Aston Villa winger Ashley Young.
Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool are all keen to land the England international.
Villa boss Gerard Houllier has previously warned off interested suitors by claiming the 25-year-old former Watford ace will not be allowed to leave Villa Park for less than £80million.
But it is understood the club could be forced to accept offers in the region of £12m, fearing the player could walk for nothing when his contract expires in 18 months time.
Bayern Munich had a scout tracking Young during Saturday's 3-2 Barclays Premier League defeat at Bolton - in which he missed a crucial penalty for the visitors.
Yet the Bundesliga outfit's representative was reportedly pleased with what he saw and provided positive feedback to the club, who are now poised to join the bidding war in July.
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so Young is now the bestest player ever......................more awesome than Bale...........
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spurs should sign defenders.
their defence sucks.
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Bayern wan buy A.Young
if they can make it to 4th place (UCL)
then A.Young will consider to go
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Manchester United target Ashley Young to hold out for Old Trafford summer switch
Young at heart: Aston Villa's wing-wizard Ashley Young has his heart set on a move to Manchester United
EXCLUSIVE
Ashley Young will look to force through a dream move to Manchester United in the summer.
The England forward will resist any attempt by Aston Villa to revive contract talks in a bid to clear the path to Old Trafford.
Young is a long-term target for Sir Alex Ferguson, who views the 25-year-old as a successor to Ryan Giggs and Sportsmail understands Young has already told a number of Villa team-mates that he wants to move to United.
He could cost as little as £10million in the summer after being valued at £25m at the start of the season.
His current deal expires at the end of the next campaign and discussions over fresh terms have hit the buffers. With Villa faced with losing Young for nothing next year, they could have little option but to sell in the summer.
The forward has held a first round of talks with Villa over a four-year deal worth in the region of £70,000 per week, but has since decided he has no intention of signing.
I want that one: Sir Alex Ferguson has a list of players he wants to revitalise his squad
Ferguson has sensed for some time that his United squad may be in need of serious attention and successive defeats by Chelsea and Liverpool have confirmed his worst fears.
Dismayed by the shortcomings of his squad, exposed by non-League Crawley in the FA Cup and Marseille in the Champions League, Ferguson is pursuing potential targets in all areas after being assured he can finally dip into the £80m fee received for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Apart from Young, he has a strong interest in Everton’s Jack Rodwell and is also ready to move for Tottenham duo Luka Modric and Gareth Bale, Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson and a first-choice keeper to replace Edwin van der Sar.
Several players who have fallen below expectations, like midfielders Darron Gibson and Michael Carrick and defender Jonny Evans, look vulnerable to a shake-up while question marks hover over Gabriel Obertan and Bebe.
Ferguson has long admired Rodwell’s composure and versatility as a central midfielder or centre back. He senses Everton may finally be ready to relent over allowing him to follow Wayne Rooney to Old Trafford.
Although Henderson has indicated a willingness to remain at Sunderland, Ferguson is ready to test that by offering him Carrick’s central midfield role. Bale would fill the need for another full back as well as providing pace down the left, while Modric would replicate veteran Paul Scholes’ guile from midfield.
Determined: Ferguson still has eyes for Sunderland's Jordan Henderson despite the player's willingness to stay with the Black Cats
United are confident Scholes will sign for one more year, but Ferguson is still keen to prise Modric from Tottenham and install him as the creative spark missing for much of this season. Young would satisfy the Scot’s need for more width and pace in his squad.
Ferguson will also attempt to recruit a proven, senior keeper in light of Van der Sar’s impending retirement and is still being linked with Schalke’s Manuel Neuer and Inter Milan’s Julio Cesar.
The United manager demands fringe players demonstrate their readiness to grasp a first-team place whenever an opportunity presents itself and has been bitterly disappointed by the way several have fallen short this season.
As an added worry, injury-ravaged former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves may have to accept his United career is over when his contract expires in the summer. There also remain doubts about Michael Owen’s ability to stay fit for any length of time.
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12m is so budget!!!
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It’s Ash ’n grab time
ON THE MOVE ... Ashley Young has told pals he wants to leave Aston VillaASHLEY YOUNG will snub any offer of a new Aston Villa contract to join one of the 'Big Five' this summer.
The England winger is a long-term target of Manchester United and Tottenham and is also being tracked by Arsenal.
Despite publicly insisting he is just concentrating on football before opening deal talks in the summer, Young has now told close friends he is ready to move on.
Young has also informed Villa team-mates he feels it is the right moment in his career to move to fulfil his dream of Champions League football.
A source close to the player said: "Villa are showing no sign of breaking into the top four and Ashley knows he has to think about playing at the very top if he wants to become an England regular before the European Championships.
"He loves being at Villa and the way the fans treat him but is set on moving in the summer."
Young, 25, was outstanding and instrumental in Villa's upturn in form after Christmas and has only one more year left on his contract.
He could leave for about £12million after calling a halt to talks over a new £70,000-a-week four-year deal just before Christmas.
Villa boss Gerard Houllier knows he is powerless to stop his star player moving on but hinted in January he would rather let Young's deal run out than sell for a cut price.
It is not the news Villa fans will want in a week in which Richard Dunne and James Collins face punishment for their drunken antics at a team-building session.
The two defenders individually faced a club disciplinary panel yesterday, with a PFA representative also present at each.
A maximum fine of two weeks' wages - £120,000 for Dunne and £90,000 for Collins - is likely to be imposed by the end of this week with a final warning for both men.
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Considering the turmoil at AV... I think Gerard Houllier needs to get more signings of his own and kick out all these players who are affecting squad harmony.
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i think the one who is outstanding and instrumental all season is stewart downing...
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Originally posted by Asromanista2001:
so Young is now the bestest player ever......................more awesome than Bale...........
where did U pick this up from?
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If he is smart, he should go Liverpool or Arsenal cos with Valencis back and Nani's form... I don't think he could be in the first team. Unless he don't mind being rotated...