Young to decide future at end of season

Liverpool target Ashley Young says he is ignoring the transfer speculation surrounding him for the time being and will decide on his future at the end of the season.

Young will line up against Kenny Dalglish's side on Sunday in the final game of the Premier League season, and has been persistently linked with a move to Anfield over the past year.

Dalglish is keen on the 25-year-old, who has been one of Villa's standout performers during a turbulent season, but it is unlikely the Anfield outfit will meet the Midlands club's £25m valuation of the player.

Both Manchester United and Arsenal are also rumoured to be keen on Young, who joined Villa for £9.75m in January 2007.

The former Watford winger, however, says he will remain committed to the Villa cause until the end of the campaign, when he will then make a decision as to his future at the club.

"I have always said at the end of the season I will speak to the manager and the chairman," said Young, who has 14 caps for England.

"I will give 100% on the pitch and when it comes to the end of the season I will sit down and take it from there.

"There is a lot of speculation around in the football world and that is how it has been for the last few weeks. I have just got to concentrate on Aston Villa and keep doing well for the club."

Young recently hinted he may look to move on from Villa, stressing his desire to win trophies.

He said last week: "I'm an ambitious person that wants to win titles and leagues and cups. Hopefully I can do that.

"I think they say that players start to peak at 26 or 27 and I'm soon to be 26 so, fingers crossed, I can start peaking myself."

Young's Villa team-mate Stewart Downing, meanwhile, is another reported Liverpool target.

The 26-year-old was voted as the club's Player of the Year recently, following a string of fine performances.

Like Young, Dalglish has a long-standing interest in the wide-man, a player Reds Director of Football Damien Comolli pursued while at Tottenham between 2005 and 2008.

Villa are believed to be prepared to offer the former Middlesbrough man a new long-term contract to convince him to stay in the Midlands, though they may be tempted to cash in if they receive a bid in excess of the £10m they paid back in 2009.

Source: Daily Post

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