Aston Villa: Luke Young snubs move to Liverpool FC

Jul 30 2010 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail

LUKE Young will play a part in Villa’s pre-season Guadiana Cup tournament in Portugal after dramatically snubbing a move to Liverpool.

Martin O’Neill wants the out-of-favour defender to boost his match fitness after the player yesterday rejected a £2.5 million switch to Anfield.

With Young in limbo, Villa hope the collapsed move will publicly alert other clubs of their asking price and flush out more potential suitors.

But Young is set to feature in Saturday and Sunday’s matches against Feyenoord (9.30pm) and Benfica (9.15pm) after missing three friendlies.

The popular 31-year-old right-back was excused pre-season match action while he contemplated a move to Roy Hodgson’s Reds.

O’Neill confirmed that Villa accepted a bid from an unnamed club earlier this week, which turned out to be the £2.5 million offer from Liverpool.

But Young, who still has three years left of a five-year contract on a reported £40,000-a-week wages, turned the transfer down for personal reasons.