• Villa owner, Randy Lerner, has said midfielder is not for sale
• Milner in World Cup squad after PFA young player award

Manchester City tabled a £20m offer for James Milner that Aston Villa are expected to flatly reject. Randy Lerner, the Villa chairman, made it clear last week that the Midlands club have no intention of selling the England international and City will have to significantly increase their bid for that stance to change.

Milner enjoyed an exceptional season at Villa, which culminated in him winning the Professional Footballers Association young player of the year award and catching the eye of a number of leading clubs, including Manchester United. The Guardian, however, revealed last month that Manchester City were the frontrunners in the chase to sign Milner and their interest has now crystallised into a formal bid being lodged. City were waiting for a response from Villa.

Brian Marwood, City’s football administrator, has long admired Milner’s qualities. He has known the midfielder ever since he burst onto the scene as a teenager at Leeds United, having worked closely with him during his previous employment as head of UK operations for Nike, which sponsors the 24-year-old.

Whether Marwood is able to convince Milner to leave Villa, however, remains to be seen. Sources close to the player claim that he feels a debt of gratitude to Martin O’Neill for the perseverance the Villa manager showed when he signed him from Newcastle United a little under two years ago.

Villa paid £12m for Milner, a fee that many considered to be over the odds at the time, although that now looks to be a shrewd investment.

Having won his first England cap against Holland in August, Milner has since gone on to become a regular in Fabio Capello’s set-up and is certain to be part of the squad that will go to the World Cup finals. Although he impressed Capello while playing on the right for Villa, O’Neill’s decision to move him from the flank to a central midfield role midway through last season proved to be a masterstroke and allowed Milner to blossom into one of England’s brightest prospects.

With that in mind, there is no indication that Milner will agitate for a move to join his former Villa team-mate Gareth Barry at Eastlands. Instead, the onus is likely to be on Villa and whether Lerner, who has talked of a “sell-to-by” policy this summer, can continue to resist City’s overtures. O’Neill would be deeply upset to lose Milner but the Villa manager will also be aware that his chairman has spoken about a “sell-to-buy” policy this summer and, as a result, a more substantial bid from City could prove much more difficult to turn down.

Premier LeagueAston VillaManchester CityEnglandStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk