QUOTE
Aston Villa given ultimatum over £12m Sporting Lisbon transfer target
Aug 2 2009 by Bill Howell, Sunday Mercury
SPORTING Lisbon have given Villa an ultimatum – to agree Miguel Veloso’s £12 million transfer in 72 hours or the deal is off.
Midfielder Veloso has remained on boss Martin O’Neill’s radar throughout the summer.
But Lisbon have lost patience and given them until the middle of the week to finalise negotiations or they will sell the player elsewhere, confident that they can find a Premier League buyer.
Villa’s first choice is Real Madrid’s Dutch international Wesley Sneijder, but his personal terms are believed to be astronomical.
If O’Neill cannot reach some sort of compromise then a deal for 23-year-old Portuguese international Veloso will come to the fore.
O’Neill believes he needs five more players to enable Villa to compete this season.
Portsmouth will not budge on their £4.5 million valuation of Sylvain Distin which has led to O’Neill moving closer to offering veteran former Tottenham and Arsenal defender Sol Campbell a one year deal as he is now a free agent.
One player who looks destined for Villa Park but not until Sam Allardyce has found a replacement is Blackburn’s left-back Stephen Warnock.
O’Neill’s desperation for players at the Peace Cup has soared to new heights as he sought permission from the organisers yesterday to fly out three youth players ahead of today’s final.
Villa take on Juventus in Seville tonight with Eric Lichaj and Emile Heskey suspended. Gary Gardner, Dominik Hofbauer and Jordan Collins will now fly out to plug the gaps.
O’Neill said: “We are checking the rules to see if that is possible. If it is then we’ll get three more lads over here just to bolster our numbers.”
Curtis Davies should play in Seville but there is clearly a worry over the state of his right shoulder which Davies said popped out against Porto.
O’Neill says no surgery is planned at this moment in time but a ‘watching brief’ will be kept.
“We think Davies will play,” he said. “He has protection around the shoulder and we are hoping that will be enough. It is concerning that the shoulder seems a little weak, but Davies will want to play.
“At this stage we are not considering an operation to strengthen the shoulder.”
O’Neill says despite their troubles Villa will go all out to beat the Italian giants and claim the two million euros prize.
“Our feeling at the moment is that we have got to the final of the Peace Cup so we are going to try to win it.
“We will start with the strongest team we’ve got available and see where that takes us.”
O’Neill, who saw the second half of Real Madrid’s loss to Juventus, admits the final is not the one the neutrals wanted: “Real Madrid were probably the team most neutrals wanted in the final.
“However, Juventus are an excellent side - regulars in the Champions League - and I think this is going to be just a fantastic experience for all of us, never mind the youngsters.
“As the competition has gone on, we’ve got mentally stronger. That’s been fantastic.
“Obviously the physical side has been very demanding too. Considering we have had to wait for a result to get it all back into our own hands, it’s been particularly pleasing overall.”
Veloso: I say leave it then, there's no way we're paying £12m for him. From what I've seen, he's a good player, but there's no need to be held to ransom over a player who we don't really need. Reo-Coker and Sidwell are both fully fit now and along with our PotS Petrov, I don't think the middle of the park is where we need strengthening.
Warnock: As good as Shorey going forward, as good as Bouma definding. He's pretty much what we have already, in one player. Woud like him, but I'm guessing that would mean Shorey or Bouma (or both) could be gone.
Another player we're linked to is Newcastles Habib Beye. One of their better performers last season, but would be nothing more than a squad player for us. Would like to take Bassong off them though, he looks as though he'd be decent in a not **** team.
Hope it's a good final tonight, but I have the feeling we're going to get battered. We've had to fly in 3 under-18 players to fill our squad, it's getting ridiculous now, partly due to injuries, partly due to players still on holiday, partly for not signing anyone!
