ASTON VILLA have rejected an opening £18m offer from Tottenham for Ashley Young, saying it is nowhere near their £30m valuation of the player.
Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, has made Young his No 1 transfer priority. But the club’s chairman, Daniel Levy, is reluctant to pay more than £25m, which may open the door for Liverpool, who are expected to enter the bidding. It is believed that the Stevenage-born winger is keen to return south and has told friends he would jump at the chance to move to White Hart Lane.
Redknapp broke away from Tottenham’s pre-season preparations last week to meet Real Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar’s representatives, with Tottenham ready to pay £18m for the Dutchman. Redknapp told them the club was prepared to make Huntelaar their highest-paid player.
Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw by Barnet in yesterday’s traditional pre-season friendly at Underhill. Academy product Sanchez Watt formed a first-half strike partnership with Andrey Arshavin, who opened the scoring.