• Young’s wage demands believed to be the stumbling block
• Aston Villa were keen to get the full-back off their wage bill

Luke Young’s proposed transfer to Liverpool collapsed today, leaving the full-back facing an uncertain future at Aston Villa. Liverpool had agreed a £2.5m fee with Villa on Tuesday for the former England international but there were suggestions that Young was unable to agree personal terms at Anfield as well as being reluctant to relocate to the north.

The news will come as a disappointment to Liverpool and Villa. Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, was keen to bring in the experienced defender to improve his options at full-back and also increase his quota of home-grown players, while Villa were eager to move on one of their higher earners as they look to reduce their £70m annual wage bill. Young was earning more than £2m a year at Villa and has three years remaining on his contract, with further signing-on fees due over the course of that period.

Liverpool had initially indicated Young would have to lower his demands, which have deterred interest from other clubs this summer, although when Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, reported earlier in the week that a bid had been accepted it began to look like a deal might go through. That is no longer the case, leaving Young to continue his pre-season training in Portugal with Villa and O’Neill cursing a missed opportunity to free up some money.

The Villa manager has been told he will have to operate within the constraints of a “sell-to-buy” policy this summer, accentuating the need to move on a number of players on the periphery. At the moment, however, Steve Sidwell, Nigel-Reo-Coker, Habib Beye, Curtis Davies, Nicky Shorey and Young all remain Villa players. There has also been no progress with James Milner’s situation despite ongoing negotiations between Manchester City and Villa.

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• England midfielder prepares for Portugal tour with Villa
• Aston Villa and Manchester City reach impasse over fee

Aston Villa have reinforced their message that James Milner will leave only on their terms by naming the midfielder among the party who travel to Portugal on Wednesday. Milner held talks about his future with Martin O’Neill today and, although he will not feature in the friendly at Walsall tomorrow, his inclusion in the first-team squad for the trip to the Algarve has underlined Villa’s stance that nothing will change unless Manchester City meet their valuation.

With no indication that City are ready to pay the £30m asking price at the present time, O’Neill has effectively signalled that it is a case of business as usual at Villa by taking Milner with him to compete against Benfica and Feyenoord in the Guadiana Cup. The Villa manager’s decision mirrors how he handled Liverpool’s pursuit of Gareth Barry two years ago, when he fell out with the midfielder but later integrated him back into the team as the Merseyside club struggled to fund the deal.

Although City are clearly not operating with the same financial constraints that Liverpool were then, Milner’s proposed transfer has reached an impasse because of a £6m disparity in the two clubs’ valuations. It remains likely that common ground will be found but until that happens Villa are determined that Milner will continue to honour his contract and represent the club, whether that be in a pre-season friendly or the opening Premier League match against West Ham United.

That path ahead was mapped out in a meeting at Bodymoor Heath today, when Milner reported back for his first day of pre-season training after being given an extended break. The discussions provided Milner with an opportunity to express his disappointment that O’Neill had claimed he had “intimated” he wanted to leave the club this summer and that he was not interested in signing a new contract. Villa described the talks as amicable, although whether the air has truly been cleared remains to be seen.

Aston Villa’s statement said: “James Milner trained with the rest of the Villa squad today. He and the manager, along with chief executive Paul Faulkner and the player’s representative, Matthew Buck, had an amicable conversation and, while James will not play in the game at Walsall, he will fly with the squad to Portugal on Wednesday ahead of the Guadiana Cup in which Villa will compete with Benfica and Feyenoord this weekend.”

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