Upson In? Sunday Transfer Rumours For Villa

According to the News of the World (nice tip I was sent yesterday by the way if you are reading this!!) Aston Villa are after West Ham defender Matthew Upson for £10m but the cash strapped Upton Park outfit was... wait for it... £15million for him. LOL. Interesting link though, does that mean there are more worries over the future health of Martin Laursen I pray to the lord of bad knees Paul McGrath not. I guess the fact he is 29 and used to play for the Blues will make this link unpopular with some. He is certainly a solid enough defender but unless one is on the way out, do we need a 5th central defender or does Upson play up front!!

The Sunday Express meanwhile say that Villa are prepared to pay £5million for 24 year old Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones. There is a thread in our forum about the Trinidad and Tobago international (warning, adult language being used!) where the few who have offered an opinion seem to dismiss the link and the player. Got to hold my hands up, I know nothing about him, so apart from decoration, I'm not sure what purpose I serve here! Forum >> Click Here The wikipedia entry says he is 24-years-old, I seem to remember our last striker from Trinidad wasn't too shabby as well! That said, the scoring record to date is average at best: Click Here for Wiki entry

Another link outwards. This time John Carew who the NoftW say could be Galatasaray bound. They say the relationship between the striker and Martin O'Neill has deteriorated since the lap-dancing incident before the Ajax game and the £100 000 fine that followed.

The same red top also says that Peter Crouch’s agent says a return to Villa isn't on because they 'cannot match' the £70 000 a week wages he is paid at Portsmouth. Crouch to sign tomorrow then! What a load of tosh!

Meanwhile Martin O'Neill has admitted not many clubs can compete with Manchester City when it comes to fees and wages. 'If we are in for the same player, there is no way we can compete with Manchester City. Definitely not. As a player in the market, Man City have made things change.'

MON has also talked about paying over the odds for players saying if he thought they would all turn out like Ashley Young he may be more willing to pay more. He said in the News of the World 'If I thought eventually a player was going to be worth it then I might pay over the odds. But I would have preferred to pay £5m for Ashley at the time ... the fact that he’s worth 15 times that now is immaterial.' They then pointed out that meant Young was worth £75milllion and he answered... 'Go with it, go with it! But I know if he reads it, he’ll be in to see me!'

A report in the Sunday Mercury by Mat Kendrick says Villa are watching Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic who is quoted as saying (before Villa entered the top four) 'I’ve rejected the offer from an English side who are currently below the top four in the Premier League, but are close to them. It’s not Everton. I had said no to them earlier.'

The Sunday Mercury also say that Southampton want Marlon Harewood on loan.

Finally the People say Villa are in 'hush hush' talks to extend Gareth Barry's contract. Shhhhhh!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.