James Milner goes to war with Martin O'Neill over City quit claims
Published 23:00 22/07/10 By James Nursey
James Milner is fuming with Martin O'Neill after the Aston Villa boss publicly claimed the midfielder wants to quit for Man City.
England ace Milner, 24, was last night trying to contact O'Neill on the phone for talks about his future.
Milner is in limbo after Villa rejected City's bid of £18million plus £2m in add-ons in May for the versatile midfielder.
Villa are still demanding £30m in straight cash and City are unwilling to go above £25m despite being bankrolled by Abu Dhabi tycoons.
Now Milner fears he could remain at Villa and get flak from fans after O'Neill's remarks which the star has denied.
O'Neill said: "James and his agent came to see us before the World Cup and intimated that they would like to go.
"Manchester City have put a valuation on the player. It doesn't match our particular valuation but we will see, that may well be resolved.
"Manchester City have put themselves into a different stratosphere at the moment and a lot of players want to be part of that."
Milner, capped 11 times, is due back at Villa on Monday after an extended break following international duty with England in South Africa.
The star is refusing to discuss a new contract while ambitious City are interest in his services.
But Milner insists he has never demanded to be sold or requested to leave in an end of season meeting with O'Neill and club officials.
Milner, who has two years left on a £45,000-a-week deal, believes O'Neill's comments are designed to flush out an acceptable new bid from City.
Villa have to sell-to-buy this summer and need cash to move for new signings of their own like Robbie Keane and Aiden McGeady.
