Villa are already believed to have had one offer, in the region of £9m, rejected for the former Leeds United player.

Now the Midlands club look set to renew their attempts to sign a player who spent the 2005-2006 campaign on loan at Villa Park.
Villa manager Martin O'Neill thought he had landed Milner two years ago after agreeing a fee for the England Under-21 player, but Newcastle stopped the deal going through at the 11th hour and Milner returned to the North East and last summer signed a new four-year deal.

Now the 22-year-old has made it clear he wants to leave the Magpies with his official request.

"He nearly signed two years ago, but I never think anything is done and dusted until anything happens," said O'Neill.

Meanwhile, O'Neill believes midfielder Gareth Barry has been in the right frame of mind mentally since returning to the Villa side after the apparent collapse of a move to Liverpool.

Barry's agent Alex Black insisted last night that the England player would not be moving during the current transfer window.

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