• Martin O’Neill wants Ireland to fill hole in Aston Villa midfield
• City at stalemate with Mario Ballotelli over huge wage demands

Stephen Ireland is emerging as the key figure in Manchester City’s pursuit of James Milner after Aston Villa asked if he could form part of a player-plus-cash exchange.

Ireland is available from City as Roberto Mancini looks to trim an oversized squad and the Villa manager, Martin O’Neill, wants the midfielder to bring more creativity to his team as they prepare to lose their player of the year.

The talks have accelerated in the past few days and it is now a question of whether the clubs can finalise the financial part of the deal. There were strong indications today that there has been a significant breakthrough, with Milner withdrawn from Villa’s squad for the friendly against Valencia.

Ireland, a product of the club’s youth academy, spoke recently of wanting to stay at City and compete for his place in a side who could have £130m worth of new players by the end of the transfer window. But Mancini is not planning to include him in his 25-man squad for this season, having not been overly impressed by the former Republic of Ireland international’s form last season. This has been made clear to Ireland and, with the player slowly coming round to the idea, there is a belief on both sides that there could be more movement over the weekend.

“We are close but we still have time,” Mancini said. “We are speaking to Aston Villa and we are near. I am hopeful.”

Until now, Villa had been asking for a straight fee of £30m, with City making one bid, of £18m plus a further £2m in add-ons, and informing Villa they were not prepared to go higher than £24m. The involvement of Ireland could see the clubs reach a compromise for a £27.5m package, taking into account the worth of a player who was voted City’s player of the year two seasons ago.

City, however, are no closer to signing Mario Balotelli from Internazionale because of their refusal to meet the £30m asking price, coupled with a reluctance to meet the forward’s financial requirements.

The player’s agent, Mino Raiola, has disputed that the teenager is asking for £180,000 a week but City believe the sums he is asking for are exorbitant and have found it increasingly hard to compromise.

Raiola has a reputation as one of the more difficult negotiators in the business, although it has not reached the point where City have threatened to walk away from the deal. It is, however, an increasing possibility that Balotelli will not be in Manchester in time for the opening game of the season at Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday.

“When you go in for a deal you must be patient,” Mancini said. “Inter ask for this amount, and we want to pay something else. The thing is that when you want to buy someone for Manchester City the price is not normal.

“We want to improve and to do this we must often buy players who will cost more than they normally would. We want to pay the right price for Balotelli but we are closer with Milner. But we still have 20 days of the transfer window and I think we can find a solution.”

The former Internazionale manager, speaking at a press conference to parade the club’s four major signings, David Silva, Jérôme Boateng, Aleksander Kolarov and Yaya Touré, was asked whether he was confident of getting the best from a player with Balotelli’s troublesome reputation. “I work with Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez; it will be easy,” he said, jokingly.

Manchester CityAston VillaTransfer windowDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk

• Midlands club will listen to offers for six fringe players
• Villa manager can generate funds to strengthen squad

Martin O’Neill yesterday signalled his intention to oversee a major overhaul of his Aston Villa squad this summer by informing six fringe players that the Midlands club will listen to offers for them. Curtis Davies, Luke Young, Nigel Reo-Coker, Steve Sidwell, Nicky Shorey and Habib Beye – who all struggled to hold down a first-team place last season – were told they could leave provided Villa’s valuation of them is met.

All six players were O’Neill signings but few made an impression during the last campaign – only two of the group, Sidwell and Young, started more than 10 Premier League matches – as the Villa manager resisted the temptation to chop and change his side. With Randy Lerner, the Villa chairman, expected to be more circumspect in the transfer market this summer, O’Neill may well have reasoned that selling those on the periphery is necessary to generate funds to bring in fresh blood and strengthen.

Davies, who was in Fabio Capello’s thoughts last season but was unable to win his Villa place back at the turn of the year after returning from a lengthy spell on the sidelines following shoulder surgery, is likely to attract the biggest fee. Signed for £9m a little under two years ago, the central defender was hailed as a future Villa captain when he joined the club from West Bromwich Albion but he has been unable to dislodge the successful centre-back pairing of Richard Dunne and James Collins.

Reo-Coker’s future looked to be in doubt from the moment that he clashed with O’Neill on the training field near the start of the season. There appears little chance of Villa recouping anywhere near the £8.5m they paid West Ham United for the midfielder. Sidwell also seemed destined to leave following another frustrating season when he failed to recapture the form that led to a move from Reading to Chelsea before he signed for Villa.

Shorey, who has spent much of this season on loan, enjoying spells at Nottingham Forest and Fulham, will have been resigned to leaving, although Villa supporters will be disappointed to see Young depart. The former England international, who is expected to join Fulham, received a rousing ovation when he was introduced as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday and can count himself unfortunate to have lost his place to Carlos Cuéllar last season.

Aston VillaPremier LeagueMartin O’NeillStuart Jamesguardian.co.uk

Win or bust for Aston Villa. Martin O’Neill believes his side have to win their last three matches to have any chance of finishing in the top four but their neighbours would like nothing more than to hammer a nail in the coffin of Villa’s Champions League dreams. Birmingham, however, have lost their last five meetings with Villa, including a 5-1 drubbing at the home of their rivals two years ago which pushed them closer to relegation. You get the feeling Alex McLeish might mention that result in his team-talk. Stuart James

Venue Villa Park, Sunday noon

Tickets Sold out

Last season n/a

Referee C Foy

This season’s matches 25 Y66, R2, 2.72 cards per game

Odds Aston Villa 8-13 Birmingham 21-4 Draw 14-5

Aston Villa

Subs from Guzan, L Young, Beye, Davies, Sidwell, Heskey, Delfouneso, Reo-Coker, Clark, Salifou, Albrighton

Doubtful Davies (ankle), Dunne (head), Petrov (groin), Warnock (ankle)

Injured Harewood (foot, Aug), Delph (knee, Jan), Bouma (ankle, unknown)

Suspended None

Form guide WWDWLD

Disciplinary record Y55 R2

Leading scorer Agbonlahor 13

Birmingham

Subs from Doyle, Taylor, Phillips, Míchel, Larsson, Parnaby, Tainio, Vignal, Benítez, Carsley, Mutch

Doubtful None

Injured Murphy (hamstring, 1 May), O’Connor (hip, 1 May)

Suspended None

Form guide DLDDLL

Disciplinary record Y64 R1

Leading scorer Jerome 10

Match pointers

• Aston Villa have won their last five Premier League meetings with Birmingham

• Birmingham have won no games this season by more than a single-goal margin

• Aston Villa are unbeaten in seven home games but have drawn six of them

• Birmingham have conceded fewer fouls (405) than any other side in the division

• Stilian Petrov has had more shots without scoring (28) than any other player

• Birmingham have scored three headed goals this season, fewer than any other side

Premier LeagueAston VillaBirmingham Cityguardian.co.uk