Young snubs move to Liverpool

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.

Having moved from Middlesbrough to Villa for £6 million two summers ago, the Londoner was reluctant to relocate his young family up north again.

Young was also concerned that his first team prospects at Anfield behind Glen Johnson and Jamie Carragher could be no better than at Villa Park, where he has lost his place to Carlos Cuellar.

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.