Guardian: Villa are the favourites to sign the 22-year-old James Milner from Newcastle, with Liverpool believed to have cooled their interest in the former Leeds winger. With Liverpool now exploring other options, Villa are hopeful a deal can be agreed with Newcastle once Kevin Keegan has added more numbers to his squad. O'Neill yesterday admitted the need for new signings is "more important than ever", with Gareth Barry's departure to Liverpool all but confirmed. Villa have also lost Carson, Thomas Sorensen, Olof Mellberg and Patrik Berger since the end of last season. Steve Sidwell is expected to be one of the new faces and Villa hope to complete a £4.5m deal with Chelsea for the 25-year-old next week. O'Neill has defended his decision to work as a pundit for the BBC during the Euro 2008 finals, something that Barry publicly criticised last weekend. "I went out and did some games for the BBC," explained O'Neill. "I was working there for two or three days in the week but then coming back and working here. It was not as if I spent three weeks out in Austria - not that I should have to explain myself to anyone other than one person at this football club [the owner, Randy Lerner]."

Daily Mail: Martin O'Neill has admitted it is 'more important than ever' to bring in new signings now that skipper Gareth Barry's future lies away from the midlands club. O'Neill is resigned to losing Barry even though he will demand Liverpool meet his £18million valuation of the player before the saga comes to an end. Olof Mellberg, Thomas Sorensen and Patrik Berger have already left since the end of last season plus on loan Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson. But O'Neill is determined Villa will avoid a repeat of last season when they finished sixth in the Barclays Premier League despite having the smallest squad in the division. He said: 'We're hoping to try to add to the squad. The players did fantastically last season but we had the smallest squad in the Premier League. 'We wouldn't want that to happen this season so we're going to address it. Even if Gareth had decided to stay, we were still going to address it. 'But now it's even more important to do it than ever. It's the time for anticipation now. Players are back for pre-season training and, with the European Championships out of the way, it's obviously all systems go for everyone.'

Guardian: West Bromwich Albion have made an inquiry about the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson. The former England No1, who appears to have no future at White Hart Lane under Juande Ramos, has been strongly linked with a move to Aston Villa this summer, with Martin O'Neill keen to recruit a replacement for Scott Carson. However, it is understood that Albion are the only club to have approached Spurs regarding the availability of the former Leeds keeper.

Sporting Life: Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has admitted it is "more important than ever" to bring in new signings now that skipper Gareth Barry's future lies away from the club. O'Neill is resigned to losing Barry even though he will demand Liverpool meet his £18million valuation of the player before the saga comes to an end. Olof Mellberg, Thomas Sorensen and Patrik Berger have already left since the end of last season plus on loan Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson. But O'Neill is determined Villa will avoid a repeat of last season when they finished sixth in the Premier League despite having the smallest squad in the division. He said: "We're hoping to try to add to the squad. The players did fantastically last season but we had the smallest squad in the Premier League. "We wouldn't want that to happen this season so we're going to address it. Even if Gareth had decided to stay, we were still going to address it. "But now it's even more important to do it than ever. It's the time for anticipation now. Players are back for pre-season training and, with the European Championships out of the way, it's obviously all systems go for everyone."

New Straits Times (Malaysia): Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill told Liverpool on Thursday to meet his club's asking price for want-away England midfielder Gareth Barry. None of Reds boss Rafael Benitez's four separate bids for Barry have so far met their Premier League rivals' asking price of STG18 million (RM117 million). O'Neill, who has resigned himself to losing his club captain, fined Barry two weeks wages -- some STG80,000 pounds -- on Wednesday after his skipper suggested the Villa boss was more interested in commentating on Euro 2008 for the BBC than talking to him about his future. Former Northern Ireland midfielder O'Neill, who barred Barry from pre-season training, told Villa's official website, www.avfc.co.uk: "We are really disappointed that he (Barry) is not going to be with us, he has made his mind up to go to Liverpool. "You can talk and you can talk and talk but the bottom line was that when he came back from the England game in Trinidad and Tobago, he told me he wanted to leave. "When somebody says they want to leave a football club, there is not much else you can do about it.

Coverage From Abroad

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