Having landed David Silva from Valencia, Manchester City will reportedly now return their attentions to Aston Villa’s James Milner.

The Silva deal was concluded with the player still in South Africa but he has agreed a four-year contract with the club and will join when pre-season starts.Milner is now the next target with City ready to splash out for the player, although whether they will go to £30m, which is what Villa, want remains to be seen.

City are said to be waiting to hear the indications of what Milner wants to do but they would like to have him signed up before they head out on a pre-season tour of the US on July 12.