Aston Villa: James Milner Could Stay, Says Stiliyan Petrov

The vultures of world football, Manchester City, look set to take their spending to over £130million in the next few days as they seemingly will announce the arrival of England midfielder James Milner from Premier League rivals Aston Villa.

The Villa playmaker, 24, has been on the end of intense transfer speculation in recent times, first with a £24million move to Manchester United, and now a £30million switch to Manchester City, courtesy of his stellar performances last season which saw him win the PFA Young Player of the Year ahead of Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Joe Hart.

Up until now, it has looked an almost certainty that Milner will move to City, with many surprised that the former Newcastle and Leeds man hasn't already hooked up with all the other superstars at Eastlands.

However, a protracted transfer saga and a place in the starting line-up for Villa in their opening league game against West Ham later, it seems that James Milner might possibly, just possibly, decide that he wants to remain at Villa Park.

After all, Milner is one of the most professional players in the game at the moment, and his brilliant and committed display against the Hammers in Villa's 3-0 win (in which he scored a goal) prove that for him, football is much more than just money, and that it's playing regular first-team football which is most important.

The Villa star knows he is far more likely to receive that at Aston Villa than Manchester City, where the fans and his teammates show him the kindness and respect his talent deserves.

It could be said that Aston Villa and James Milner need each other.

Milner's teammate and captain at Villa, Stiliyan Petrov, hailed Milner for his professional display, and has suggested the unthinkable, i.e. James Milner being an Aston Villa footballer for the whole of this season.

He told SkySports, "When you are a good player and teams want to pay £20million, £30million for you then you can do nothing about it.

"[James Milner] is giving everything for the club like he always does. He's a great pro and people should learn from him.

"He deserves the standing ovation because you don't see many more honest players in the world coming out and playing like that with such heart.

"He was flattered by the reaction - and when you make the fans happy and see them behind you, it makes it even harder to leave.

"After today he may even decide to stay."

For Aston Villa and James Milner, it would be most logical if he did decide to stay at the club.