Barcelona Set To Launch €29 Million Bid For Aston Villa’s Ashley Young

Reports that Aston Villa are prepared to sacrifice Ashley Young to bring in two additional players could spark some of Europe’s big clubs into action and Barcelona appear to be the first to react.
The Blaugrana are unwilling to waste any more time on Franck Ribery now that other heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea have joined the mix and they are also reportedly giving up their chase to recruit Robinho on loan from Manchester City.
And according to the Daily Star, the Calatan giants have now turned their attention to the 23-year-old Young and it is believed that a €29.5 million (₤25) could be enough to tempt Villa manager, Martin O’Neill to part with the talented winger.
Barca could have an ace up their sleeve as O’Neill had previously shown an interest in Alexander Hleb, a player who has no future at the Camp Nou, and a part-exchange deal could be the best option for both clubs.
The paper also quoted a Spanish source saying, “Young has been impressive throughout last season with Villa and he is a player that [Pep] Guardiola likes.
“He has been following him for a while now and we hope that he wants to move to Spain and come to a club as big as Barca.
“There has been no contact yet but the club are firming up their plans at the moment.”
Young came close to joining Real Madrid during the January transfer window when Juande Ramos was still in charge at Los Blancos but the excessive asking price forced them to abandon their chase.