It’s a shame when lazy journalism proliferates through major tabloids because they are under pressure to make something up.
That said, however, if the transfer was to go ahead (hypothetically speaking), then it would be a masterstroke of McLeish and could well be his way to win over the remaining sceptical Villa fans.
Amongst many of the Villa faithful, I would wager that Milner was seen as a greater loss than Young due him being a better all-round player. Last season aside, I think the Villa fans would give him a hero’s return. What’s more, it would be a fantastic move for Milner. He has undoubtedly found it difficult to break into the city side (as many predicted) due to the abundance of ludicrously expensive signings, and if it continues his stock will inevitably decrease. At Villa, however, he is pretty much guaranteed to start every week. Villa’s international showing is always good because our best players get regular football- something that Milner will be aware of.
It is strange that City have not used his services more, and it certainly does fuel my belief that City make tactical purchases from their competitors. They buy players not so they can have them, but so other teams cannot. Villa were direct competitors in the 2009-2010 season. They swooped in and took our standout player to effectively lop off the head of the competition. It’s very shrewd, and in part it worked because MON followed out the door as a direct result, but it’s not football.
As mentioned above, I believe this story to be pure speculation from someone under pressure to come up with a new story in a somewhat uneventful transfer window. However, if there is any truth in it I think it would be a genius signing and the big name acquisition that is needed to re-affirm our ambition.