http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-spo...oung/article.do

Simon Johnson

16.07.09

Chelsea are set to step up their efforts to sign Ashley Young but will have to bid £25million to prise the winger from Aston Villa.

The Blues have been monitoring Young for some time and are now prepared to make a move as Villa are on the verge of completing a £12m deal for Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing.

Chelsea see the England international, who can play on either wing, as providing competition to Joe Cole, Florent Malouda and Yuri Zhirkov.

Villa insist Young is not for sale but Standard Sport understands they will listen to offers of £25m. That would mark a huge profit for Villa, who paid Watford £9.75m for the midfielder two years ago.

Young has made a big impression in the Midlands and although he feels a lot of loyalty towards manager Martin O'Neill the 23-year-old will find Chelsea hard to resist. The fact he is English makes him an attractive proposition as UEFA now require teams to have eight home-grown players in their Champions League squads.

Tottenham are also very interested in him and have been linked with a £25m bid involving David Bentley. But it is understood Villa are not prepared to sell him to a team who they consider to be one of their close rivals and a threat to their chances of qualifying for Europe next season.

Spurs were also advised it was too late to make a last-minute bid to beat Villa to the signing of winger Downing, who has set his heart on joining O'Neill's side.

Spurs have been after the England international since 2006 and have had numerous negotiations with Middlesbrough since then, but it appears Downing was not prepared to wait for them to make their move this time.

Chelsea depart for their pre-season tour to the USA today increasingly confident that captain John Terry will reject Manchester City's overtures and commit his long-term future to the club.

Terry was significantly involved in the announcement of the club's new sponsorship deal with Samsung yesterday and was pictured in the club shirt and chief executive Peter Kenyon later confirmed they plan to offer him a new deal.

Kenyon said: "We think John Terry epitomises everything that Chelsea is about. I don't think this is about looking at the value of John Terry in terms of what someone is prepared to pay for him. As far as we're concerned, he's not for sale.

"I think he is happy with that. This is about John Terry and the club continuing to work together, extending his contract and doing what he wants to do and what we want him to do, which is finish his career here."

Chelsea have also been boosted by the news that UEFA have reduced the bans handed out to Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa for their behaviour after their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona by one match.

Drogba will now miss three games and pay a £12,800 fine, while Bosingwa will sit out two matches and pay £8,500. Both players also have a further two-game and one-match punishment respectively suspended for three years hanging over them.

Chelsea still have to pay £8,500 for their failure to control their players and for their fans throwing missiles on the pitch.

The club have loaned 19-year-old Slovakia winger Miroslav Stoch to FC Twente for one season

Seems odd we let Stoch go out on loan this year ? Might be some truth in it

£25mil? English international players sure are overpriced. Liverpool paid around £19mil for Johnson and now Villa are asking £25mil for Young. Insane!

With Cole now back on the operating table, I could see us hedging our bets with a signing such as this

I rate Young but £25m is far too much.

Isn't he a left winger though? We already have Malouda and Zhirkov competing for this position..

This was rumoured about a month ago , didnt we make enquiries and got now where ?

Is Young one of those 'tunnel-runners'? I mean he has no idea who goes where, he justs knows he has to run that way and when the white line closes he crosses...If that is the case I don't want him. You have to have a great vision at this level no matter what spot you cover...

Jesus Christ noooooooooo!

Get striker, not another wide player.

He's good, but not £25m good. I'd rather we got a right-footed player anyway.

He's good, but not £25m good. I'd rather we got a right-footed player anyway.

With a left foot to stand on I hope?

Young is right footed and just plays on the left for villa

Young is right footed and just plays on the left for villa

He's a bit like Ribery then :Whistle:

Edited July 16, 200917 yr by jordanl5182

He's a bit like Ribery then :Whistle:

Only a lot cheaper and far less quality

Young is right footed and just plays on the left for villa

Young is right-footed? I wasn't aware of that! So he can play on both wings? Maybe he wouldn't be such a bad idea after all...

If we did get Young think about the options we would have, Zhirkov, Cole, Young, Malouda and we won't have a reason to play Anelka out of position.

If we did get Young think about the options we would have, Zhirkov, Cole, Young, Malouda and we won't have a reason to play Anelka out of position.

Some might argue we won't have a reason to play Anelka at all. Not me though.

Some might argue we won't have a reason to play Anelka at all. Not me though.

You said what I was too cowardly to say. :P

If Anelka is not played as one of our main centre forwards next season i'll be amazed. No excuses for playing him out of position now.

Ashley Young is a quality player, 25mil prob a bit overpriced but he is young an he is english and in the current transfer market with prices getting raised all over the place it probably isnt to bad a deal, especially if he can play on both wings. Im guessing this would be the marquee signing we have been promised then? not quite the player i was hoping for...

Young is right-footed? I wasn't aware of that! So he can play on both wings? Maybe he wouldn't be such a bad idea after all...

Takes free kicks and most shots with his right foot. That means he's right footed with a decent left foot to stand on.

I too agree with most here, over rated and over priced. If he were to be our marquee signing then I'd be a little disappointed.

Takes free kicks and most shots with his right foot. That means he's right footed with a decent left foot to stand on.

I too agree with most here, over rated and over priced. If he were to be our marquee signing then I'd be a little disappointed.

Agreed on the first paragraph. Every time I see him, he is cutting in to cross or shoot with his right.

I think he may well be a "head-down" type player (anyone remember Franz Carr, the supreme example of a brainless winger with immense pace?)

According to Villa fans, they don't want to see him leave now the taciturn Downing's arrived, because Young's a colourful character, very vocal on the pitch and not scared to wade in with a few choice words. As far as I'm concerned, we need a few more characters, someone with a bit of fire.

How about a swap with Kalou plus some cash? (from us I mean)

According to Villa fans, they don't want to see him leave now the taciturn Downing's arrived, because Young's a colourful character, very vocal on the pitch and not scared to wade in with a few choice words. As far as I'm concerned, we need a few more characters, someone with a bit of fire.

Didn't the aftermath of the CL semi-final prove that we have many players with some fire in them?

Agree 100% with PloKoon on that... don't think Chelsea have a problem in that area!

Rather than players with a bit of fire in them I'd prefer to see us getting players with a lot of hunger with a desire to win trophies rather like those we had in Jose's first season. Young could fit into that category.